A Human Child
by gabrielleizzy45
Summary: The sequel to "A Human Wife" that will hopefully live up to its expectations. After Rose and John Smith spent three months married with the added complication of Rose having a baby what will happen next? The moment the Doctor and Rose thought their relationship was going good, they were forced to say goodbye at Bad Wolf Bay. Will Rose and her daughter Clara find the Doctor?
1. After the Beach

**I'M BACK! Here it is, the sequel to "A Human Wife" so if you haven't read that, I suggest you read that first. And I hope all of you that read the first story will read and enjoy this one just as much. **

**First of all, the typical intro that I do not own Doctor Who, but BBC does instead. That being said, I do wish this would have actually happened...**

**Anyway, thanks to you all who are reading this and to my fantabulous Beta who makes this story so much better. **

**I will say I probably won't update as regularly because I haven't finished writing it yet, so please stay with me. Though if you REVIEW it will motivate me, so please review if you like this story!**

**Please read on and enjoy, just thank you so much for reading!**

After the Beach

Rose didn't remember anything that had happened after the Doctor's form had vanished in front of her on Bad Wolf Bay. She didn't feel anything, simply_ couldn't _feel anything. Everything was a haze around her. She couldn't think, for if she let her mind wander for just a moment, she would surely break again. She was alone and it was impossible for the Doctor to come back. She would never see him again.

"Rose, are you awake?" Jackie called, slamming Rose's door open as she loudly ambled into the room and settled on the edge of her bed. She sat there, holding two mugs of tea, acting like that beverage would somehow help.

Ignoring her mother, Rose buried herself deeper under the covers and closed her eyes again. It was perfectly ironic, of course, that her bed sheets were so much different than what they were in the TARDIS or at the Powell Estates. At Pete's mansion (she still couldn't bring herself to call it home) her sheets were pitch black and perfectly matched her mood.

"Rose Marion Tyler!" Jackie yelled this time, pulling the covers off of the pajama-clad Rose. "You do realize it has been a whole week and you haven't left this bed yet, don't you?"

"I don't care, Mum," Rose whispered. "Please, can you just let me be?" Rose continued, her eyes filling with the now ever-present tears as she spoke. "I can't face it, Mum. I can't go out there and pretend to be happy now. I just can't and it is killing me. Literally killing me."

"I'm sorry, Rose, but you need to face the reality of this situation," Jackie said, her voice confident as her face softened and she sat down next to her daughter on the excessively large bed. Then again, everything in this house was ornate. "The Doctor isn't going to come back. He just isn't. And you sitting her wallowing in self-pity isn't helping anyone. In fact, if it is doing anything at all it is hurting everyone who loves you in _this_ universe. I'm sure this isn't how the Doctor would want you to be. He would want you to fight on and have a fantastic life, whether he was there or not."

Rose's face scrunched up like she was trying not to cry as she took a few deep breaths. "I'm not daft you know. I am well aware that I'm trapped here, forced to live day after day without him and it sucks, Mum. I don't care what he would've wanted at the moment, I just want _him_."

"Sweetheart, I understand how you feel, I really do," Jackie explained, attempting to rearrange Rose's nest of blonde tangles into something resembling hair. "I went through the same thing when I lost Pete, but I got up and kept on, Rose. And that is what you either need to choose to do right now or I will be behind you forcing you to move each and every day until you learn how to do it on your own."

"But dad was dead, Mum," Rose whispered, plopping back down onto her welcoming bed. "The Doctor is still alive out there and he is alone, Mum."

Jackie understood that she wasn't going to get anywhere that way so got up and quickly vacated the room. Rose leaned back with her face devoid of expression, pleased that she had won this argument with her mother. However when she heard footsteps returning to her room she let out a groan and covered her head with the covers, hoping that it was Pete or a passing maid so that she could be left alone.

"I think this is all I need to do, Rose," Jackie exclaimed, walking into the room again with a grin on her face and Clara in her arms. "C'mon sweetheart, your baby needs you right now."

Rose's face dropped completely at seeing Clara again and sat up in the bed automatically, reaching out her arms for her daughter. Jackie let out a sigh of relief as she settled the now one-month old baby into Rose's care. "Oh, my Clara," Rose murmured, her eyes filling with tears as she saw the baby's eyes peek open a bit. "Mummy's so sorry."

"Good thing that she is bottle fed with formula," Jackie mumbled, fixing the blanket around the baby. "You are lucky Clara had so many people looking after her, but she needs her mother now, Rose. You understand, don't you?"

"Mum," Rose muttered, not lifting her eyes from the waking child. "Can you please go talk to Pete or something? I really want to be alone right now."

Thankfully Jackie followed Rose's orders and made her way out of the room. At her departure, Rose stiffly rose out of the bed and shuffled out into the hallway. After this, Rose decided, she was in much need of a shower, or perhaps a bubble bath. Sighing at the thought, Rose pushed open the nursery door and hesitantly stepped inside. It was hard to be in this room because when she had first arrived, she had refused to decorate it, so confident she had been that she would see the Doctor again. But her mum had insisted and eventually Rose relented and helped paint the room. It was beautiful, that was obvious when you walked inside. The walls were white at the moment and probably would never be painted now, but the rest of the room was finished. The ceiling was full of glow in the dark stars that could never compete with the real ones, but would have to do now. All of the furniture, a small crib and a few chests and chairs, was the same bright blue as the TARDIS.

Blowing a hair out of her face, Rose settled into the rocking chair next to the bed with Clara on her lap. By now Clara was completely awake, but she hadn't made a sound yet. She cocked her head to the side as if she was confused and her dark brown eyes, eyes that were an exact replica of the Doctor's gazed back at Rose with more intensity than the ten pound body should. She had a little bow headband on her head, but Rose quickly tore it off to study her closer. Clara's hair was blonde at the moment, but that didn't mean it would stay that way when she grew up. However, it seemed as if she had inherited her dad's full head of hair because Rose was sure she had never seen a month old baby with as much hair as Clara. The rest of her was flawlessly pink and simply perfect to Rose's eyes.

"Have you missed your mummy, Clara?" Rose asked, leaning down and bopping Clara on the nose as she spoke. The baby of course didn't respond, but let out a gurgle that Rose couldn't help but fuss over. "Oh, you have, haven't you, sweetheart? Don't worry, your mummy is never going to leave you again. I promise that I'll always be there for my little Clara."

Apparently Clara did not agree because at that moment the baby opened her little mouth and let out a loud wail, squeezing her eyes shut as her tiny fists flailed about. Rose's eyes flew open in shock, she had forgotten how loud Clara was when she cried and that made her feel even worse. Cooing softly to Clara, Rose rocked the baby for several seconds as she tried to figure out what was wrong. According to the schedule, Clara had eaten less than an hour ago and couldn't possibly be hungry and had just woken up from a nap. Her diaper was clean and nothing else seemed to be wrong and Rose was on the verge of calling her mother in for help when several minutes had passed by with no avail. However, Rose suddenly had an epiphany and realized exactly what was wrong. It wasn't her voice that Clara wanted, it was the Doctor's. How many times had he talked to her while she was in the womb? Too many for Rose to remember and she just instinctively knew that was what Clara was crying for. Even though her daughter had never met the Doctor she still missed him, yearned for him to come back. She remembered, she knew his voice. Rose worried her lower lip, willing herself not to cry and upset her daughter even more. So Rose sucked in a deep breath and started to sing to Clara. It was a lullaby that the Doctor always sung to her, saying that it was perfect for his daughter, but never told Rose where he had first heard the words. The song told a story about a little girl who grew up dreaming of the clouds and the man who lived among them. Whenever she was sad, the girl would go outside and talk to the sky, just knowing that the mysterious man would hear her and she always felt better when she did that. The last few lines of the song said that one night, when the fog lowered, she finally saw the man she had always dreamt about and she joined him on the cloud for the rest of her life. While Rose sung the familiar melody to Clara the child calmed down until she was silent and smiling by the time Rose finished singing. Even though it wasn't the Doctor's voice like she was used to, it was enough familiarity that it calmed Clara down.

"Thank you, Clara. I know you aren't used to me singing your lullaby to you, it'll have to do," Rose whispered as she kissed Clara's forehead and settled her back onto her lap. "You are such a good baby so far, sweetheart. I'm sorry I haven't been a good mummy, but mummy has just been sad about daddy."

Rose was surprised when Clara let out a coo when she said the word daddy. The moment Rose stopped speaking a slight grimace had filled the baby's face.

"You remember daddy, yeah?" Rose began. She was quite content right now no matter how much she missed the Doctor she had Clara. And the baby was perfect and she loved her more than she could ever imagine was possible and here she was, asking as much as a baby could to hear about her father. "Of course you do, he used to talk to you all the time. One time mummy got so mad at daddy and wouldn't talk to him for a whole day," Rose said, glancing down to check that Clara was still awake before she continued. "You see, daddy wanted to take me to go get ice cream at what he thought was a safe planet that was famous for the best frozen treats in all the galaxies. You were in my tummy then and apparently you wanted ice cream too because that was all mummy could think about. Anyway, when I was halfway through my banana split something happened. Apparently there was a trap door under daddy's chair because that opened up and he fell into the pit down there and I was left sitting at the table with my mouth full of ice cream. Long story short, I ended up in front of a crowd about to get sacrificed because pregnant women were sacred goddesses on that planet that would appease the wrath of the gods for centuries if they were sacrificed. Mummy was so scared because my little Clara was there with me and I couldn't let anything happen to you and daddy hadn't been seen since he fell into the pit. Of course daddy came flying in the _last_ second and saved us, but I thought he had been cutting it close, especially since he had put his daughter in danger. So mummy told him she wasn't going to talk to him again, but late the next afternoon daddy said that if I wouldn't talk to him then he would talk to you. It's safe to assume I couldn't stay mad at him when he put his face right up on my stomach and started telling you stories for a full four hours before I talked to him again."

Rose let out a laugh at that perfect moment in time that had so quickly been taken away from her. Clara was still wide awake and latched her tiny fist onto one of Rose's finger and acted as if it was the most exciting thing in the world. Rose picked Clara up and held the baby close against her chest, knowing that she only felt whole again when Clara was with her. And that no matter how much it had hurt, she loved Clara so much and was worth everything just to hold her.

"Tell you what, I'm going to tell you something right now and I don't want you to ever forget it," Rose whispered to her daughter. This is what she needed right now. "No matter what anyone ever tells you, this is the truth. Your daddy is the most amazing man I've ever met and I will love him until the day I die. Except there is so much more to him than that, he is so important, Clara. You have no idea how many planets and galaxies sing praises of your daddy for saving them and they will until the end of time. Because he is the Doctor. Don't you forget his name, Clara because it is etched into history forever, just not this universe's. Just know that he is in another universe saving the world and he would give it all up to come get us, but he can't. Don't ever say he didn't want you because you have no idea how much he loved you and he never met you. Because I lost him, we both did, before you were born. And he tried, I know he did. He did everything he could to get us back, but he _couldn't_, but that doesn't mean he loves us any less. But mummy is here now and I always will be and just know if daddy could, he would be right here next to you telling you this too."

It was then that Rose stopped, wondering how much more she could say before she broke. Because she was broken now and wasn't sure if she would be able to mend up because she didn't have her Doctor with her.

However, Rose swallowed through the hesitation and continued on talking to the little girl. "Your daddy travels in a blue police box through time and space. And that box, oh Clara, that box, it's more wonderful than you could ever imagine and I am so sorry that you will never get to experience it, not able to use the little nursery it made for you. But it's still there and I'm sure the Doctor will keep it there for the rest of time, just waiting for his little girl to come back to him," Rose blinked back the tears, here is where it would get hard for her. "He is ancient and he is burned throughout the universe. He thinks he is running away, Clara, but we know better, don't we? He isn't running _away_, he is running to save the world, not destroy it. And you know what I never told him, what I really think about that box. It contains what is left after everything else is lost, after the fear and pain escapes, it holds hope. Because that is what the Doctor is to me, he is hope. He knows that nothing is more important than having a hand to hold and I always will now," Rose stuttered, looking down at her finger still enclosed in Clara's fist. "He gave me _you_, Clara and that is more precious than all of the stars in the sky. Don't ever forget that, don't let anyone convince you that you aren't special. Because that is what your daddy does, what he _really_ does besides saving the world more times than I can remember. He takes people on a journey and shows them that they can be a hero. That they are important, that they are loved in their darkest moments. No matter how insignificant anyone may feel, they will always be enough in the Doctor's eyes."

When Rose glanced down again she saw that Clara was sound asleep again. It was no wonder, Jackie had woken her up halfway through her nap and then Rose had talked to her and rocked her back to sleep. Rose took a moment to stare at her daughter, it still seemed surreal to her to have this little baby in her arms that was _hers._

With that thought in mind, Rose cuddled her baby closer to her and simply sat in the silence only broken by Clara's soft sleeping murmurs. Rose let herself slowly fall asleep then with her eyes free of tears and a small smile on her face.

…

Rose woke up with a start when she felt someone touch her arms. "Doctor?" she mumbled before she opened her eyes, just begging to wake up in a reality where he was there with her.

"Sorry I work you, sweetheart," Jackie whispered, her eyes filling with sadness when she saw her daughter's eyes fill with unyielding pain as they slowly opened. As if to emphasize her point, Jackie closed her mouth and continued with her task of picking up Clara.

"Mum, what are you doing?" Rose asked, still halfway asleep as she tightened her grip on Clara.

"I was just going to move her to the crib so you could sleep longer," Jackie explained as she took in her daughter's disheveled appearance. "Do you want to go back to sleep now?" Jackie continued, hoping she wouldn't offend Rose. "Or you could take a shower, would you like to do that? It might help."

Jackie was honestly surprised when Rose stood up and lightly placed Clara into her crib on her own. "I think I'm going to go take a bath," Rose murmured as she rubbed her raw eyes. "Can you make sure that Clara is okay until then? I want to go out afterwards."

"Out?" Jackie asked with perhaps a bit too much surprise in her face because Rose sent her a harsh glare. "You haven't left your bed for a week and now you want to leave the mansion? I'm sure Pete would like to see you first."

"He's as Torchwood, right?" Rose gulped. She knew that Torchwood was different here, but she was still reluctant to trust them. After all, they were the reason she was trapped here without the Doctor. "That's where I am going, I have some unfinished business I need to discuss with them."

Apparently Jackie didn't agree with Rose as she let out a loud sigh of annoyance. "Rose, I don't think that is wise."

"Mother, I can do what I want," Rose stated, already halfway out of the room. "I am a grown woman with a child of my own now and I _will_ make my own decisions."

Leaving the room before Jackie could respond, Rose went to go take her much-needed bath. It wouldn't take away her pain, but it would be just enough so that she could leave the house and do what she needed to do.

…

After a very long and relaxing bubble bath Rose put more effort in her appearance than she had in months. The first few months she had been in this universe she had been pregnant and rarely cared what she looked like. It was hard at first to live here and watch her mum fall in love with Pete again, but it made her happy. A week before she had Clara, Jackie and Pete had gotten married at a quaint little church, but that didn't mean the press didn't hear about it. Pete was a very wealthy man after all and the press was very interested in how his pregnant daughter and his wife who was supposed to have died showed up.

Once that was done, Rose was relieved when she went into the nursery and saw Clara still asleep in her crib. She didn't understand how the baby could fall asleep so quickly during the day and then spend most of the night exercising her lungs. "Come on, we are going to go see granddad now," Rose whispered. She knew that she didn't have to bring Clara, she just felt like it was very important that she come with her. After all, she wasn't sure if she could handle walking into Torchwood without Clara in her arms.

With that thought in mind Rose was able to leave the mansion without encountering her mother and was surprised when she saw the car she had taken to driving waiting for her outside the front door. Apparently her mum wasn't going to be difficult about this, Rose thought as she strapped Clara into the car seat in the back. If she would have seen herself two years ago she would have laughed at herself for sure. She was actually carrying a bright pink diaper bag and didn't seem a bit embarrassed by that fact.

"Rose Tyler here to meet with Pete Tyler," Rose said into the intercom in order to gain admission into Torchwood.

It didn't take long before she was through security and standing in front of the doors that led into Torchwood's true purpose dealing with aliens. Rose shifted Clara a bit in her arms and stared at the doors, hoping to get the strength to shove them open.

However, Rose didn't have a chance to try herself because at that moment the doors were flung open, narrowly missing Rose's foot. "Rose Tyler," a tall and ridiculously thin woman with short black hair said with a hint of a Cockney accent. "Welcome to Torchwood."

**SO!? What did you think of it? Leave a review and let me know if you think you will like this story as well. Please, please do review and let me know what you think of it. **

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well! **

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter and don't hate me too much anymore! Any ideas about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever! **

**Gabrielle**


	2. Sarah Jane Smith

**This is the sequel to "A Human Wife" so if you haven't read that, I suggest you read that first. And I hope all of you that read the first story will read and enjoy this one just as much.**

**Anyway, thanks to you all who are reading this and to my fantabulous Beta who makes this story so much better. Sorry for the wait, but I am not even done writing the story yes! Hopefully you can forgive me and enjoy this new chapter as well!**

**Even if you don't like where I am going with this right now, please stay with me. Though if you REVIEW it will motivate me, so please review if you like this story!**

**Please read on and enjoy, just thank you so much for reading!**

**P.S. Sorry I posted this twice, I just accidentally deleted it when I thought I was editing the title!**

Sarah Jane Smith

The moment after he shut the door, the Doctor leaned with his back against the door. He didn't know how to breathe anymore, how to do anything really. He hadn't had a chance to think since he had said goodbye to Rose on the beach. But now there was an eternity left. Throughout his adventure with Donna, he had been able to hold himself together and he could hardly believe he had asked Donna to come with him. He assumed it was because he wanted, no, _needed_, to keep running so he didn't have any time to stop.

"No…" the Doctor whispered, pushing off from the door and practically running into the controls. "There must be a way."

It was then that the Doctor began flinging the levers, pushing the buttons, and spinning the controls in no precise order or manner, just wishing that they would do something. Maybe the TARDIS would be thrown into a pit of fire and he would be put out of this misery. It was hitting him all at once all over again, everything that he had ever lost felt like it was happening all over again.

The Doctor was surprised when he felt the TARDIS land on what he assumed to be solid ground. He had no idea where or when he was, absolutely no idea at all, and he didn't care. He didn't want to look outside, he didn't want to do this again without Rose. Not anymore, he didn't want to move on and bury her deep inside like everyone else he had lost. Just this once he wanted to feel, he wanted to hurt. He wanted to scream at the universe for taking Rose and Clara away from him. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't.

He was still slumped over the controls staring at nothing when he heard a knock. An insistent knocking on the TARDIS door and it wasn't stopping. Was it in his head? He could be anywhere; it could be Genghis Khan finally trying to break down the doors again. If so, he would welcome it gladly. In fact, he could help him out and open the door for them.

With a silly smile on his face he approached the door. He didn't know why he was smiling, it felt wrong somehow. It was just that if he was facing death, he was so relieved. He would do anything to stop this pain. Without a second thought the Doctor flung the door open to see who was outside of the TARDIS.

"Doctor?" called out a voice, but the Doctor barely heard her. He was just staring, the smile gone from his voice now. He knew that his eyes were huge right now, but he didn't care. He couldn't control anything, the only thing that happened was when he let out a choking noise and had to reach out to steady himself on the door so that he wouldn't fall to his knees.

"Sarah Jane Smith," the Doctor managed to whisper before he finally collapsed on the ground right outside of the TARDIS in a heap. It was then that he felt himself breaking. He hadn't cried yet, but from the sobs that were threatening to escape out of his throat he knew his floodgates had broken.

Sarah Jane stood in shock as she watched the Doctor crumble at her feet. She had never seen him like this on any of their travels and it terrified her. The Doctor was always so stoic and never showed emotions. He was always so calm that she had sometimes wondered if he even _had_ them. And now he was just sitting there crying and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. "What happened?"

"It hurts," the Doctor choked out as he buried his face against his knees. He didn't want to look at her; he _couldn't_ look at her.

"What hurts, Doctor?" Sarah Jane asked as she kneeled next to the Doctor. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but he just jerked away with a pathetic squeak. "Why are you here? I thought last time I saw you was goodbye."

"Please," the Doctor whispered. He looked up at Sarah Jane with red eyes as he thought of what he should do. He didn't know why he was here; he wasn't planning on being here. Now here he was, stooped right outside of Sarah Jane's house and he couldn't even tell her why he was there. "Just…just leave me here for a bit."

Apparently the Doctor was serious because Sarah Jane sat next to him for at least five minutes with no interaction whatsoever. She assumed it was okay to go into the TARDIS. After all, the doors were still wide open and it might give her an indication of what had gone so horribly wrong.

Glancing back once she had stepped into the blue box, Sarah Jane took a deep breath and left the Doctor huddled on the ground. There was nothing strange in the console room, so she stepped farther into the ship towards what she remembered was the kitchen. Was she alone on the ship? She had no idea how long it had been for him since she had last seen the Doctor, but where was his companion?

"Hello?" Sarah Jane asked the empty air as if expecting a response. "Is anyone here?"

Knowing she was alone on the TARDIS, Sarah Jane decided to go see if the Doctor was still in the same position. After all, more time had passed than she had expected. Just like old times, she had spent way too much time trying to navigate through the corridors only to end up lost.

Once she was back in the console room Sarah Jane let out a breath of relief that she wasn't lost anymore. With that thought in her mind, Sarah Jane hesitantly walked out of the TARDIS, expecting to see the Doctor in the same position as he had been in when she left. However, the spot was empty and the Doctor was nowhere in sight. Sarah Jane was beginning to worry when she noticed that her door was open wider than it had been when she left. It was her best bet that the Doctor was somewhere in her home.

"Doctor, where are you?" Sarah Jane muttered. She had to stop the smile that filled her face as she thought of the times she had said that same line before when she traveled with the Doctor.

"In the kitchen making some tea," the Doctor answered in an excited tone. Sarah Jane hadn't expected him to act like nothing had happened, but she wasn't all that surprised either. "You take one sugar, right?"

Sarah Jane cocked an eyebrow as she walked into her kitchen to see the Doctor setting the cups of tea on the table with a smile on his face. "You remembered…"

"Of course," the Doctor responded in a sure voice. "I remember everything about you," he said as she settled in the seat across from him. "Speaking of which, how long has it been for you since I last saw you?"

"Two weeks ago when we saved the world from a high school," Sarah Jane said as she cocked her head and studied him. He looked exactly the same, but that didn't mean it hadn't been years since they had last met. The thing that shocked her was his eyes, they were so much sadder than they had been last time, finally showing every minute of his 900 years. "How long for you?"

"Over a year," the Doctor whispered as his face dropped and he stared at his untouched tea. "Has it really only been a year? I wish it would have been a century."

Sarah Jane took a deep breath before she spoke again, unsure of what his response would be. "Have you been alone long?"

"Two weeks," the Doctor muttered. He ran his hands through his hair again, leaving it sticking up at an impossible angle. "I haven't slept in two weeks. I had to find it, Sarah Jane. Find the breach, but it wasn't big enough!"

"Breach?" Sarah Jane asked. "If you want me to help you I need to understand, Doctor."

"Rose," the Doctor whispered as he buried his face into his hands once more. "I can never see her again. Never, I've lost her."

"She didn't…?" Sarah Jane questioned. She was so surprised by his actions. Was this how he acted every time he lost a companion? She was sure that wasn't the case. Apparently this Rose was special to him. When she had met the girl before, she knew that the young girl was undeniably in love with the Doctor and that was an emotion she could relate to. But she didn't think they had been anything more than friends; the Doctor always had his rules. Her heart automatically went out to Rose, whatever had happened definitely hadn't been pretty and after they had gotten over their pettiness she had respected and genuinely liked the girl.

"No!" the Doctor practically shouted as his head shot up in surprise. "No, no, no don't even let me think about that possibility. She isn't dead. Rose is very much alive."

Sarah Jane let out a breath of relief at his words. "Did she want to go home, Doctor? Because if that was the case it was her own choice and I know she didn't do it to hurt you."

"She would have never left me," the Doctor whispered as he picked up his cup like he was going to take a drink before he slammed it back down on the table, sloshing tea everywhere. "She gave up everyone for me, Sarah Jane. And she didn't, wouldn't, have regretted it one bit."

"Then what happened? Is she alone?" Sarah Jane asked as she sipped on her own tea. "Tell me you didn't drop her off like you did to me and then regretted it."

"Rose isn't alone," the Doctor stated in a harsh voice. "She will never be alone, she has her family and…"

"Where is she? Why can't you go get her back?"

The Doctor actually got out of his chair and paced back and forth across the kitchen for a few moments before he responded again. "She's trapped, Sarah Jane. In a parallel universe, I can't get there ever again."

"How did this happen?" Sarah Jane exclaimed with wide eyes. She didn't understand, he was the Doctor. He was capable of everything. He could bend the walls of time and space, so surely he could go get Rose in a parallel universe.

"It hasn't happened for you yet," the Doctor whispered. "She was flying towards the Void and then her…father, I suppose…he caught her and saved her by taking her to the parallel universe. Then the walls of reality closed before I could get her back to me."

"Oh, Doctor," Sarah Jane gasped. She could tell that was as detailed description she would get from the Doctor about what happened. "I'm so sorry."

"I got to see her one more time. I burned up a star just to say goodbye," the Doctor explained.

Sarah Jane tried to suppress the jealousy that rose when she learned that he had said goodbye to Rose when she was in another universe, but he couldn't be bothered with her. "Doctor, what can I do to help? Why did you come here? Do you want to talk about it more?"

"Please…" the Doctor whispered as Sarah Jane continued to spew questions at him. "I can't do this right now. I just lost them."

"Them?" Sarah Jane asked. She had a feeling, a thought that she hoped wasn't true. "Who else did you lose?"

"Clara," the Doctor muttered as his eyes fluttered closed. "She was so beautiful, Sarah Jane and I never got to hold her. She won't know me, she will grow up without me."

"I'm sure Rose will tell Clara about her father," Sarah Jane said, her voice confident that she was correct in her assumption. "And Rose will be a brilliant mother to her. You see, you didn't leave Rose alone, she has your daughter."

The Doctor let out a muffled sob as he turned away from her. "I am alone, Sarah Jane. I lost my family again and it is all my fault."

"I'm still here, Doctor," Sarah Jane said as she stepped over and pulled the stiff Doctor in for a hug.

After a few moments of silence, the Doctor pulled away, looking much more composed than before. "What do I do?"

"You keep on fighting for them, Doctor," Sarah Jane replied. "You don't be alone. You keep on traveling and saving this universe."

"I…" the Doctor whispered as he backed away from her. "I have to go."

"Doctor, wait," Sarah Jane announced, not letting him leave yet. "Please, say goodbye for the last time."

"Sarah Jane," the Doctor began, pulling her in for another hug. "You are brilliant, thank you for everything. Goodbye. If I see you again I will be so blessed."

"Thank you for trusting me, Doctor," Sarah Jane said as the Doctor turned to leave. "Goodbye."

After that, the Doctor left the house and moments later she heard the sound of the TARDIS. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry for the ancient Time Lord. He was so alone, so very sad. She just hoped he would find someone, anyone. Because no one should be alone, especially not the Doctor after all he had lost.

…

Thanks to Sarah Jane, the Doctor knew exactly what he needed to do, he just wanted to do one more thing before he did it.

With the TARDIS hovering in the Vortex, the Doctor took a deep breath to calm himself before he walked down the eerily quiet hallway and stopped in front of a door. He had to brace himself on the doorframe for a moment before he turned the knob and hesitantly stepped inside.

The bright yellow walls seemed to be mocking him, saying he should be happy when his whole life had just fallen apart. He stood in the middle of the room for several moments before he practically collapsed into the rocking chair next to his old crib.

"Oh, my Clara," the Doctor whispered as he looked at the bedding that would never be used. "I'm so sorry I failed you."

The Doctor began to cry again at those words, the finality that this room would never be used by his daughter finally hitting him. It was all his fault. If he only had insisted that he take Rose's lever, he would have been able to reach it and pull it upright. If only the breach had closed two seconds earlier and she could have stayed safe with him. Even if she would have been separated from her family, she would have had him. She would have known her mum was safe and happy on the other side with Mickey and Pete. She would have been so upset, but eventually she would have healed in a way he never could. Because he would have been there for her, to hold her as she cried, and before either of them knew it, Clara would have been born and he would've been there. He wouldn't have minded if Rose screamed at him that she hated him for doing this to her, or even broke his hand, because after it all he would be able to hold his precious daughter. But that would never happen now, they would never see each other again and he would never get to hold his daughter.

Glancing around the room, he knelt down on the floor next to the mound of stuffed animals. He wondered what her nursery looked like in Pete's world. He was sure it would be beautiful, Rose Tyler would have nothing but the best for her child. But it wouldn't be in the TARDIS and he would never see it.

He picked up the little Slitheen stuffed animal that was on top of the pile and studied it. It had always been Rose's favorite and she had proclaimed it would be the first one their child would sleep with. That way, she always said, the baby wouldn't be scared of the other species of aliens they encountered on their travels. After all, the child's father was an alien, she should get used to all kinds of them. But in Pete's World, she would never hold this little stuffed animal.

The Doctor spent about an hour more in his daughter's empty room before he stood in the doorway just looking at it. "I'm going to keep this room exactly like this for you, Clara. Because when you come back to your daddy you will always have a place on the TARDIS," he promised before he closed the door. He stood there, vowing that for the rest of his life he would periodically go into that nursery and remember his daughter.

After that was done the Doctor stood in front of another room, a room he knew he would never enter again after this one time. "After this you freeze this room, okay? It'll stay exactly as it is right now," the Doctor said to the TARDIS, feeling the TARDIS' comforting reply that it would be done.

Stepping into his and Rose's bedroom, the Doctor remained steely eyed as he looked around. He couldn't bear to touch anything, to move anything that was sprawled across the room. Because Rose had put it there, thinking that she was going to be back later to tidy up and he wasn't going to change anything in this room. It was a reminder of the life he and Rose had, and that time they had together was much too short.

He lightly sat down onto the unmade bed. It was heart-breaking, to see so much of Rose in this room and know that she would never see it again, never sleep in this bed again, never smile at him again. Lying down on the bed, the Doctor closed his eyes as he breathed in Rose's scent that he hoped would always remain here. He could almost pretend that Rose was still here. Think that Rose would come over and flop down next to him on the bed, poking his arm as she announced that she couldn't sleep. Then she would curl up next to him and he would be complete again. Letting out a sigh, the Doctor opened up his eyes and broke the fantasy.

Practically jumping up, the Doctor made his way out of the room as fast as he could. He slammed the door behind him and slid down the wall until he was sitting just staring at the door. He ran his hands through his hair as he tried to collect his thoughts. He couldn't do it, he could never go into that room again. It was too painful to see the physical evidence of Rose.

He sat there for a long while just staring at the door that he hoped he would never look at again. As he slowly rose to his feet he knew exactly what he needed to do next. He would only do it once, he couldn't ever think of doing it again because if he did then he would do nothing else. He would become obsessed, so he knew it was his one and only chance at this.

Going back to the console room, he flew the TARDIS exactly where he needed for the moment. He took a deep breath and made a promise to himself not to do anything that would change timelines before he stepped outside.

The day was beautiful. The sun was shining and it was a breezy summer day on Earth. The year was 1990 and it was a nice July afternoon. He was parked at a familiar playground.

"Sorry, mister," a boy around the age of six screeched as he slammed right into the Doctor. The Doctor almost said something to him before he shut his mouth. It was little Mickey Smith and he was running towards the swings where someone was waiting for him.

The Doctor settled down on a bench on the edge of the playground, being able to see them, but not close enough where they would see him. The little girl, around the age of four, with a full head of blonde hair was smiling as Mickey sat down on the swing next to her. Her hazel eyes twinkled as she began to swing, and she let out the most beautiful giggle the Doctor had ever heard. Rose Tyler was still wonderful, even when she was a child.

"Rose, don't go that high!" Mickey squealed as he tried to get his swing as high as hers. "You will hurt yourself."

"No," Rose giggled, looking at Mickey with eyes that were much too wise for her small face. "I just want to be close to the sky!"

"Why?" Mickey asked as he jumped off the swing and stood, as if he was expecting Rose to join him.

"To see the stars!" Rose proclaimed as she kept kicking harder to swing higher. "I want to go up there and see them up close."

Mickey let out a snort as he ran over to go down the slide. "That can't happen. Little girls can't go up that high to see the stars."

"Yes they can!" Rose insisted as a harsh determination filled her adorable face. "And I will, just you wait! I will see the stars!"

The Doctor knew now that it was time to go, he had seen more than enough. His Rose, she was so amazing even before he had met her. And he knew that she would be amazing for the rest of her life and she would raise Clara and be a wonderful mother, even if he wasn't there with them.

"Rose Tyler," the Doctor whispered as he entered the TARDIS with a last glance at Rose. "You saw the stars, my amazing Rose."

Rose Tyler's head whipped up when she heard an unknown noise. She squinted her eyes as she concentrated, trying to store the sound to her memory, because something deep within her tiny body told her it was important. That _that_ sound was for her. A sign, she knew, that she would see the stars someday.

**Do you all still hate me? I sure hope not...I am not _that _evil! Anyway, what did you think of the Doctor's reaction? I personally feel worse for him than Rose because he is alone again... Leave a review of what you want or think will happen. Please, please do review and let me know what you think of it.**

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	3. Trusting Torchwood

**So, I wasn't going to update today! BUT, with all the excitement about the Twelfth Doctor's announcement I am going to post today! Not all the way done editing, will post finished version at a later time!**

**Anyway, please read and hopefully enjoy! Don't worry, we will get back to the Doctor next chapter...with Martha! :) **

**Thanks for all my lovely readers and please, please, please REVIEW and I will love you forever!**

Trusting Torchwood

Rose just stood still as the strange woman kept on talking, oblivious of Rose's unease. "Come on, come on," the woman announced as she beckoned for Rose to follow her as she walked with a brisk pace down a long hallway. "Come in here where we can get to know each other," the woman said as she pulled Rose into a room that was empty except for a partly dismantled alien gun on a table.

"Were you expecting me?" Rose asked to break the silence that had developed since the woman had begun staring at her expectantly as if she was supposed to say something.

"Oh, I thought you knew what was happening," the woman said before she suddenly stopped moving and her bright blue eyes widened. "You have the baby with you! I was so distracted I didn't notice. Aww, she is simply adorable. Does she look like her father? Wow, she is looking at me like she can see straight through me, how disheartening. Still, utterly cute and perfect little girl. You better be careful with her, Rose. The paparazzi have been going crazy trying to get more pictures of you and your baby. Just the other day I saw an article saying that the pregnancy was fake since you hadn't been seen in so long. Obviously I knew the truth of the matter about the fact that this little girl's daddy is in another universe. Tragic, sweetheart, so sorry about that. But at least you still have your daughter with you. Can I hold her?"

"Not until you tell me what's going on," Rose whispered as she pulled Clara closer to her chest. She was so confused and a little bit frightened. After all that had happened, she was still suspicious about Torchwood even though everyone insisted that the institute in this universe was different.

"I'm sorry, I do that quite a bit. Getting ahead of myself, that's me!" the woman laughed as she extended her hand to Rose. "I am Zoey Webster, the head leader of the dimension cannon project."

"Dimension cannon?" Rose asked in a quiet voice. From the name, she was already suspecting what it was and why she herself would be so interested in it. "I'm sorry, I really don't know anything that's going on. So can you catch me up?"

Zoey smiled at her and Rose grinned back. Although she had only just met her, Rose was already beginning to like her. She obviously was intelligent and driven, but from her display earlier she was also outspoken and enthusiastic. Rose just knew if they spent much time together they would become great friends. "Your friend, Mickey Smith, is in on this project as well. In fact, ever since you arrived a few months back this is where almost all the funding and time at Torchwood is going."

"Why didn't he tell me?" Rose whispered halfway to herself.

"Classified information, sweetie," Zoey explained as she sat down on the edge of the table. "Though I expected him to tell you anyway. After all, you are basically family. Speaking of which, can I hold her? It's Clara, right?"

"Ummm…" Rose began to mumble, trying to think of a way to say it politely. Sure Zoey seemed nice now, but so many times she had met an alien on her travels who seemed like they wanted to help her only to discover they were trying to poison her.

Zoey let out a chuckle that eased Rose's worries. "Don't worry about it, Rose. I completely understand, I would have been the same way with my son," Zoey explained, continuing when she saw the interest grow in Rose's eyes. "His first birthday is in two weeks, actually."

"Oh!" Rose exclaimed as she relaxed around the tall woman. Just hearing those words calmed her down and caused her to trust her just a little bit more.

"I wanted to talk to you alone before I show you the area where we are working on the cannon," Zoey explained as she motioned for Rose to sit on the table next to her. "To make you understand how much time and effort is being put into this project. We were actually designing a bit of it even before you arrived in this universe. You see, even after the breach closed something was happening. There was a star that went out, and I know that doesn't sound significant, but that star in particular was supposed to shine for at least a million more years. And that isn't it, the star isn't dead. It's just gone."

"So you have to get to the Doctor so that he can help?" Rose said with a sharp nod. Of course that was it, the Doctor was the only man that could help at a time like this.

Zoey nodded at Rose with a sad glint in her eye. "Actually, there is something we have to ask you. You see, we thought that maybe if his daughter was there, a part of it all the connection would be stronger and we would be able to find him sooner. Before things become even more critical, I mean."

"Oh…no one told you?" Rose asked, continuing when Zoey looked at her with a blank look on her face. "Clara doesn't have the Doctor's DNA…well, not officially anyway."

"What?" Zoey muttered as her hopeful expression dropped. "I thought that…why didn't anyone think to tell me that he wasn't the father!"

"It isn't like that," Rose explained. This was always an awkward situation to explain to anyone and she didn't like saying it. After all, they wouldn't completely understand how it had all gone down. There were still times when she couldn't wrap her head around how much everything had changed either. "The Doctor had to rewrite his DNA to be human for a few months while we were on the run from these aliens…and that is when I got pregnant with Clara. Plus, Time Lords and humans are not compatible to produce offspring."

Zoey let out a huff of air and shifted a long piece of black hair out of her eyes. "And I thought my love life was complicated! Well still, come and follow me to where the dimension cannon is being built."

Rose hesitantly followed Zoey down the countless corridors, regretting her decision to take Clara. After all, she knew that Clara would need a bottle soon and she was sure that Torchwood wouldn't like her wasting its employee's time as she fed the baby.

Thankfully, it didn't take long before they reached a room. It looked harmless enough, the walls were white of course and a few people in white lab coats sat around a table surrounded by paper as the rest of them were working on computers or in front of the odd control panel that took up most of the room.

"Mickey!" Rose exclaimed when she saw his familiar head peak out from behind a computer. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Sorry, you were busy with Clara and…stuff," Mickey said as he stood up from his computer and easily took Clara out of Rose's arms and waved at the baby. "Anyway, now that you know what is going on here at Torchwood, I won't have to be so secretive. Now you won't get annoyed at me because I am always busy!"

Rose had been surprised by how easily Mickey had taken her return to this universe. She had expected him to be at least a little upset when she turned up pregnant and crushed at the loss of the Doctor. Although they hadn't been officially together when he chose to stay in the parallel universe, she always knew that he had been jealous of the Doctor. Even before he regenerated Mickey had assumed that Rose was more in love with the Doctor than him. And the truth was that he was right, she was just too much of a coward to let him believe it.

"Sooo…can I know everything that is going on?" Rose hesitantly asked. After all, this wasn't what she was expecting when she had come to Torchwood. But now that she knew, she was sure she would have to be involved. She had to help get the Doctor back.

"Well," Mickey muttered as he glanced around the room. Practically everyone in the room was staring at him and Rose. After all, they all knew how Rose was connected with the Doctor, yet none of them had met her before now.

Before Mickey was able to respond, Pete Tyler walked into the room. "I heard you were here, Rose," Pete said as he sent her a reassuring smile. "Oh, let me see my grandbaby," Pete exclaimed as he reached out and picked up Clara. Despite his initial reluctance to accept Rose as his daughter, he and Rose were quite close now and he considered Clara to be his granddaughter almost immediately.

"Pete, why didn't anyone tell me about this?" Rose hesitantly asked. She felt like she deserved to know this before she had to come figure it out on her own.

"It wasn't the right time, Rose," Pete answered confidently. "But I will explain everything to you. Actually, I think you should come work here. I mean, I don't think anyone knows more about aliens than you."

"I want to be there for Clara," Rose said. She wanted nothing more than help find a way to the Doctor, but she didn't want to give up any time she had with her daughter.

"You won't be doing the field work, Rose," Pete explained. "You would mostly be there to help with questions and such and assist in building the cannon of course. Obviously we wouldn't let you go on any of the trial runs with the cannon until we were confident that it was safe for you to do so and that you would arrive at the correct universe."

"Seriously?" Rose asked. She had mentioned working at Torchwood to the Doctor, but she didn't think it would actually happen.

Pete laughed a bit before he responded to Rose's exclamation. "Yeah, being my daughter does have its perks now and then," Pete joked as Rose's smile grew. "Actually, I am pretty sure you would even be able to work at home a lot of the time. You wouldn't even have to work at the facility all that often and you would never be in danger while here."

"Thank you," Rose said, reaching out and giving Pete a more enthusiastic hug than she had for quite some time.

Once Pete left Zoey began to explain the dimension cannon. "So, basically the walls of the universe are changing," Zoey explained, cutting Rose off as she began to ask what happened. "This occurred because the walls are weakening, it began when we noticed the first star going out."

"I understand, but why did you notice it in the first place?" Rose asked. She didn't use to understand what someone was talking about, but from her time traveling with the Doctor it made a bit more sense. She was no genius by any one's standards, but she knew that if the walls of the universe were crumbling something terrible was going to happen.

"Mickey," Zoey said, motioning for him to begin explaining what had happened.

"Right after you got here," Mickey explained. He waited for Rose to cut him off, it wasn't what she really liked talking about. "Well, you said something that made me think about the Cybermen getting through to the other universe. You were so broken, Rose. I had to see if I could do _something_ to help. So I brought it up at Torchwood and I was pretty sure they just looked into it just to be nice. But they found it and they saw what was happening to the walls of reality."

"How long will it take?" Rose asked as she glanced around the room at the faces she hoped would soon become familiar to her. "Better question, how long do we have?"

"We don't have more than a year," Zoey explained in a cautious voice. "We are just looking for a breakthrough and then we will start getting stronger. In fact, I think that break is going to come through soon, and then we can begin the testing."

With that news in the forefront of her mind, Rose was relieved when Zoey finally introduced her to the others on the team. There was Jake, who Rose hadn't noticed before, working with Mickey. Of course Zoey was the brains of the team, but a physicist who was a blonde man with glasses whose name she now knew as Gage did most of the calculations. There was also Sophie, a short, dark-skinned girl that worked as an engineer. And now there was Rose, the one who would be in charge of any alien messages and hopefully be able to identify anything Torchwood was unsure of.

Thankful that was done, Rose headed home with Clara. It seemed a bit too good to be true and her hope was rising. Maybe she could see the Doctor again, and she could help with that now. The progress they had already made so far was so impressive and Rose knew they were much ahead of schedule. Still, the threat of the stars going out chilled her to the bone.

"Rose," Jackie exclaimed as Rose walked back into the mansion and sat down in the kitchen. "Pete just called me. He said that you have decided to take the job at Torchwood. I can't believe you didn't talk to me about this."

"What would you have said?" Rose asked haughtily. She knew exactly what her mother would say about her choice. After all, her mother had been upset enough when she found out that Pete and Mickey were working at Torchwood.

"I would tell you to think this through," Jackie said in a careful voice. Although Rose sure was acting strong right now, her mother knew how fragile she was right now. "Rose, the dimension cannon might not work…and I don't want you to go working on it and expect that it'll work in a week. At best it'll take months, Rose. And you won't be able to even think about using it until they are confident it is safe and will get you in the correct universe, because I assume you would want to take Clara with you?" Jackie asked, continuing when Rose just sent her a rude glance. "Rose, you may never be able to get back to the Doctor. It is a very real possibility and I think you should take some time to digest that. After all, Clara is only a month old, Rose. No one will judge you if you don't want to do this, Rose."

Rose sent Jackie what she hoped to be a withering glance, throwing her head back as she did so. "I know, but it is my only shot, Mum. I have to do it. Honestly, you can't change my mind."

"You always were stubborn," Jackie huffed in annoyance. Ever since she had been a teenager, Rose had been very adamant about making every decision her own. "Rose, you are only twenty two years old, you still need your mother.''

"Mum," Rose said as she began to feed Clara her bottle. "I am in control of my own life, you know. First of all, I am going to get an apartment of my own, I can't just keep mooching off of you and Pete for the rest of my life. Second, I am saying yes to the job offer at Torchwood. It is the only way I could possibly get back to him and I need to do everything possible to help with that. I am a grown woman with a daughter of my own, don't you dare treat me like a child!" Rose stated. With those final words, Rose stormed out of the room away from Jackie. That conversation was more than finished for Rose.

…

It only took Pete a week to find Rose a suitable apartment only a few blocks away from where he and Jackie lived. Her mother had been in quite a mood when Rose had actually moved out, proclaiming that Rose still needed her help. Thankfully, Rose had managed to convince her mother she would be perfectly fine and had just finished unpacking what little she owned well after midnight.

Right on cue, Clara woke up and began to cry. Rose let out a sigh and went into Clara's new nursery that was basically a carbon copy of the one at Pete's mansion. She could tell that Clara was perfectly fine, she just wanted attention in the middle of the night.

With Clara in her arms and finally calmed down, Rose decided to go sit on the balcony now that she was still wide awake. She was still unsure of how she felt about her new apartment. It was much bigger than she needed it to be, but Jackie and Pete had insisted it was perfect. There were three bedrooms, and that was what annoyed Rose the most. Who the heck did they think would be sleeping there besides her and Clara? Thankfully though, the apartment was not that fancy and Rose felt comfortable there so far.

"You okay with being out here?" Rose asked Clara as she settled down onto the chair on the balcony. It wasn't like she was expecting a response, but she felt like she couldn't just sit in silence. "You can see all the stars tonight…"

It seemed as if Clara heard her then because she let out a squeak and yawned. Rose just smiled down at her daughter, sure she had never loved anything more than her and never could adore anyone more than Clara.

"Mummy is working on a dimension cannon, you know?" Rose explained to the baby. Although she had only been working there a week, she loved her job. She didn't have to work every day and basically got to choose her own hours. At first her coworkers had found it odd that she brought Clara with her, but she couldn't bear the thought of leaving her with Jackie to watch. She couldn't abandon her daughter, but she felt like she had to help find a way back to the Doctor. "If it works right, I'll take you with me and we will be able to find daddy again. And he will be so happy to meet you, Clara. And then we won't have to look at the stars from the ground because he will take us to see them up close."

As Rose continued to tell her daughter about the stars, she watched as Clara's eyes slowly slid shut. Because of that, she didn't notice what else was happening. If she had been looking, she would have seen what had just happened. A star in the sky had just blinked twice and then gone out, nothing there hinting at the fact that just moments ago there had been a star shining there. The stars were going out, but Rose didn't notice.

**So, what do you think? How long is it going to take? Poor Rose?... Or not? **

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	4. Martha Understands

**SO! I am going off to college in a week (YAY!) and that means I won't have much time for writing or anything. That being said, I want to update more often and try to finish writing everything!**

**PLEASE! Read and enjoy and hopefully review! Seriously though, reviews are the reason I keep writing so quickly, so please do remember that and leave a little teeny review for me!**

**Thank you all and I hope you are glad to see the Doctor and Martha back in full swing...**

**P.S. The pieces come from these episodes: Smith and Jones; The Shakespeare Code; Gridlock; Evolution of the Daleks; Utopia; Last of the Time Lords!**

**Other than those changes, assume season three stays the same (except no Human Nature/Family of Blood story)**

Martha Understands

Martha stood in the entrance of the TARDIS, still in awe over the fact that it was bigger on the inside. Sure, at first she had been more than a little disappointed. It had been a rather intimate fantasy of hers, traveling in a blue police box that was small and stuffy on the inside, forcing them to be close. Martha normally didn't think those sort of thoughts about someone she just met, but there was just something about the Doctor that she was drawn to. She could have possibly said it was the astonishing kiss he had given her, the one he said didn't mean _anything_, but she felt like there was something else. He just radiated…power. A power that had her drawing nearer to him like a bee to honey.

"It's bigger on the inside," Martha spoke in awe, finally finding the words to describe the thousands of thoughts that flew about her mind. She thought she saw the Doctor mouthing something out of the corner of her eye, but didn't dwell on it. Instead she pushed herself farther into the machine he called the TARDIS, making sure it was not just some silly trick with mirrors.

"Is it?" the Doctor asked, his voice overly sarcastic. Martha whipped her head back to look at him, there was something about the way he said it that rubbed her the wrong way. "I haven't noticed," the Doctor finished speaking and threw his coat over a piece of the coral, ignoring her awed expression as he walked over to the large control panel.

"There must be a crew," Martha muttered, looking down at her feet as she walked towards him. "A navigator or someone… Where is everyone else?"

The Doctor froze, his hands stopping over a switch. "Just me."

"All on your own?" Martha asked, knowing the answer almost before she asked the question. Of course he was alone, she had sensed it the moment she met him. He didn't want anyone near him, he wanted to be alone. But she also knew that no one should ever be alone and she was going to try her hardest to make sure this handsome alien wasn't.

"Well," the Doctor exclaimed, turning his back to her as he leaned against the controls. "I traveled with…someone," he began, his voice suddenly turning to ice. "Not anymore, I lost them. It's just me now."

"Don't you get lonely?" Martha questioned hesitantly. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not, goading the Doctor to talk about something he was trying to avoid. But she felt like she had a right to know. After all, he had been the one to invite her to go with him.

"Recently…I traveled with someone," the Doctor said, finally starting to move again as he pushed around seemingly random levers. "Rose, her name was. She was Rose. And…she, she's gone now. I lost her so I'm alone now. We were…we were _together_."

Martha tried to control her shocked expression, she hadn't expected him to actually let her know the name of the girl. And from the way he said it, it sounded very recent, almost too recent for the Doctor to handle. Obviously when he said together he meant…_together_. "And where is she now?"

"She's alive," the Doctor murmured, looking up to meet Martha's eyes. "She has my…well, she had the ba…well, she is with her family now. She's happy and _safe_ now," the Doctor mumbled, continuing to change what he was saying every few seconds. "And you aren't replacing her. No one can."

"I never said I wanted to," Martha replied, trying to stop her eyes from going wide. Why the hell did he even bring her along if all he was going to do was stammer over words and then glare at her like she was trying to replace his…girlfriend? "But you said you lost _them_? Who else did you lose?"

The Doctor mumbled something that Martha couldn't understand and she could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't going to say it again. "No, but I'm alone now. And I'm fine, I'm always fine. And she'll be fine, her mother will help her. And…and _Mickey_ I suppose," the Doctor rambled on to himself, as if he had forgotten that Martha was standing there. "I'm sure _Mickey_ would love that. To come in and be the shining bastard on a horse, oh yes. To play pretend with my family, to pretend like he is—"

"Sorry I asked," Martha said. She was thinking they were going to flirt, but for the time being she realized she could wait awhile. She figured that ship had sailed off a long time ago, but she wasn't going to give up before she even tried

As the Doctor brushed off whatever he had been talking about and their conversation continued, Martha couldn't get rid of the thoughts in the back of her head. What had the Doctor been talking about? Who the hell was Mickey? And what pretend thing was the Doctor talking about? Martha filed the information away for later, knowing that she would ask him about it some other time.

…

"There's something I'm missing, Martha," the Doctor mumbled as he repositioned himself so that he was lying on his side and facing her in the bed. "Something staring me right in the face, but I can't see it."

Martha laid down next to him at all, mere inches away from his face. As much as she was hating this whole time period, one thing she wasn't complaining about right now was their small beds. Plus, Shakespeare flirting with her had inflated her ego just enough to go back to flirting with the Doctor again. She closed her eyes, half expecting him to kiss her right then and there. "Yeah?" she whispered, chastising herself for being obvious and scooting even closer to him.

"Rose would know," the Doctor muttered, causing Martha's eyes to snap open in surprise. "My Rose would say just the right thing right now and I would figure it out. Actually, she'd probably be too tired to stay up with a wailing—" the Doctor didn't finish his sentence, abruptly switching his position so that his back was too her. Martha didn't even care enough to ask him to repeat himself, she didn't want to know why Rose was staying up all night. It was probably some weird sexual thing and she _really_ didn't want to hear about it. Martha took a few deep breaths, trying to control herself. She knew it wasn't fair to this infamous Rose, but she hated her. She was so jealous, it was obvious that the Doctor was still in love and hung up over her and she had the audacity to leave him on his own like that. With that thought fuming in her mind, Martha fell into a dreamless and short sleep.

…

"Did you tell Rose about Gallifrey too?" Martha couldn't help but ask once he finished telling her about his home planet. She understood some of it more, why he was so sad. After saving New Earth, it still wasn't enough, he couldn't save who he wanted to.

"Don't," the Doctor whispered as he put the chair back in place and motioned for her to follow him back to the TARDIS. "Just don't."

'Don't what, Doctor?" Martha asked, trying to keep up with his brisk pace. "Why can't I ask about her? You were the one who told me about her in the first place."

"Of course Rose knew about my planet, Martha," the Doctor spat out as he walked into the TARDIS with her right on his heels. "Don't think that _this_ means anything. You don't know a quarter of what I shared with her."

Martha stood in shock near the TARDIS's door before she spoke up again. "You don't have to be so mean, you know? I was just curious, you should have just said you didn't want to talk about it."

"Yeah," the Doctor muttered, looking away as if he was no longer with her, but away in his memories.

After that he lifted his head, acting as if the conversation had never taken place. But Martha wouldn't forget about it and she would get to the bottom of it.

…

"Like you and Rose?" Martha asked once Lazlo and Tallulah made their way back to their new home. "You said they would make it work and you were thinking of her, right?"

"You're always asking me who Rose is," the Doctor began to say, checking to make sure Martha was looking at him. "I can't tell you, but I can show you."

Martha didn't know what to say, so simply nodded in response. She hadn't expected him to act like this, he never had before when she brought Rose up. Every time he would just brush her away and change the topic with a foul mood firmly in place. But now the Doctor didn't look angry, he just looked _empty_ and it broke her heart. She stayed a few feet behind the Doctor as he led her down the corridors, finally almost running into him when he stopped abruptly in front of a blue door. "A door? You are showing me a door?"

"It's my room," the Doctor whispered, he hand resting on the knob. "Weeeeeell, I don't use it anymore so it really isn't anything. I can't," the Doctor said, his voice breaking for a second before he continued. All the while Martha was afraid to look at his face, scared of what she would see. "I just _can't_. I can't step foot in there anymore. But you can go in there, I'll let you."

"Thank you," Martha exclaimed, reaching out to hug him when he yanked away from her, already leaving the corridor.

"Don't come looking for me," the Doctor stated before he left from view. "I'll see you in the console room tomorrow morning to take you home and you will _never_ mention this again."

Martha stood still for a few long moments, watching where the Doctor had last stood. With a shake of her head, Martha hesitantly turned the knob on the door, pushing the door open. The ceiling is what she noticed first, there were two golden suns where a ceiling should have been.

"Gallifrey…" Martha whispered to herself, remembering the Doctor's description of his home planet.

However, she eventually was able to tear her eyes away from the suns and look around the room. What hit her first was how _lived in_ the room looked and Martha knew instinctively that no one had been in here since he had lost Rose. Because she could tell with a single glance that a woman had slept here with the Doctor, there was just some things a girl knew. Other than that, there was nothing particularly stunning about the room and Martha began to wonder why the Doctor had said this would answer some questions. She had already assumed that they were _together_, what more could there be to discover?

She was about to leave when she decided that since the Doctor had let her in here, it meant she could look around. So Martha took a few more steps into the room, trying to remind herself that she was not invading anyone's personal space. After all, no one slept here anymore. Martha had been concentrating so hard that she didn't notice where she was going, uttering a curse as her foot kicked a glass on the floor. She looked as the water in the now broken glass seeped into the carpet, but looked away and walked further into the room. Her eyes widened as she looked at the bed, it always shocked her by how human the Doctor must have been once. The bed was unmade and definitely looked like it had been slept in, just not in a long time. But that wasn't what shocked her, it was what was sitting on the table next to the bed. It was the strangest assortment of food she had ever seen together in one place. She scrunched her nose up in confusion before she realized that the TARDIS must have preserved everything in this room exactly as it had been left, food and all. The bowl looked as if it was custard with chips mixed in. Just looking at it almost made Martha gag, especially the fact that there was an opened jar of pickles right next to it. Martha assumed that had been Rose's side of the bed because on the other side sat a half-eaten banana and she knew they were the Doctor's favorite food. Whoever Rose was, she sure did have odd taste buds.

At the same time, Martha felt a sharp nudge of pity. She had hated Rose and she didn't even know her. She thought that she had left the Doctor, but judging from the room it didn't look like that was the case. No, she hadn't meant to leave, it hadn't been expected for her to leave. She was probably like Martha, thinking she was going to stay with the Doctor forever. And Martha had a feeling the Doctor would have let Rose, he wouldn't have dropped her off at home like he was going to do to her tomorrow.

Sniffling back tears, Martha turned around to look around some more. She winced when she noticed clothes scattered over a few chairs, a combination of woman's clothes and parts of the Doctor's suit. Judging from the assortment, Rose had been rather fond of pink. Seeing a desk drawer partly open, Martha was drawn to it and searched inside. She almost stopped when she noticed what was inside. It was letters and they were all opened. They were assigned to the Doctor so Martha took a deep breath and pulled a random one out, unfolding it slowly before she read it.

_Dear Doctor,_

_It has been sixteen days without you, I miss you so much, Doctor. I'm not sure if I will even give these letters to you, but if I do it is because you don't hate me after all of this is over and for that I am thankful. I love you, I want you to know that and remember it. I love you so much and it is killing me. It is hard because when I close my eyes I don't know if I am dreaming of you of John Smith. And I feel like I am betraying both of you. I assume you will know this when you open the watch, but I need to tell you in my own words. Two nights ago I think I messed up, but I can't go back now. I was mad and upset because of Elizabeth and so was he and we needed a release. So we went to the pub and got smashed and I didn't think about what I was doing. How it would change everything when you get your body back. Doctor…John and I, we made love. And it was wonderful and beautiful and everything I dreamed it would be. And then I cried because I wanted him with me forever and you aren't here. I wish when I_

It was then that Martha stopped reading, she couldn't continue that letter, it was too personal to read. But now she had to read another, she had to know what Rose meant. Where was the Doctor and why was Rose with another man? Was this why she had left?

Praying to God the Doctor wouldn't find her reading these letters, Martha pulled out another one, beginning to read it as well.

_Dear Doctor,_

_It had been thirty five days without you. Today was Christmas and it was beautiful, Doctor. Every second of it was perfect and so was John. I'm so sorry, Doctor. Please, please don't hate me. I'm sorry I love him too. But he is here now. He is the one who holds me at night. He is the one who I wake_

Martha stopped reading then as well, it was too much to read Rose's broken words to the Doctor. However, Martha needed to know. Obviously Rose and the Doctor had been intimately together before she left, but when was this and who was John Smith? She grabbed another envelope, wondering if she could read this one in its entirety.

_Dear Doctor,_

_Would you hate me if I killed myself? Of course you would, you always say you need me. Doctor, it's been forty nine days since you've been in the watch. He wants to have a baby, Doctor. I don't know how to say no to him, he loves me so much. And I love him, I really do, Doctor. But I can't give him this. He asked me a week ago if we could start trying to have a child and I said no. He didn't get mad, but I feel like I broke him, Doctor. What do I do now? I know this'll all be over by the time you are back with me, but I need to write like you will answer me now. Please, Doctor, you don't understand. I never knew I wanted this until now. And you can't give me children, Doctor. But I can't do this to you, to either of you. But you should see him, Doctor. His face. Every time before we make love he just looks at me, begging me to say yes. Begging me to_

Martha threw the letter down, not caring about the tears trailing down her cheeks. It didn't make sense, none of it did. None of it at all. Martha frantically pulled out another letter, hoping for an answer.

_Dear Doctor,_

_I saw you today. The you from the future. You were wearing a bowtie, Doctor. But that's all I can say today. I don't want to create a paradox and I'm so tired. And John needs me right now. I'll write a better note tomorrow, I promise. I'm just in shock right now._

_I love you,_

_Your Rose Tyler (not Rose Tyler Smith)_

Martha scrunched her eyebrows together, trying to imagine the Doctor with a bowtie. That was enough, she decided, she couldn't read anymore. Closing the drawer like it was before, Martha made her way over to a desk littered with papers. Martha's eyes widened when she noticed that they were pictures and a note was taped to the mirror. The note simply stated, "Good morning, darling. I woke up today and will be in shortly to bring you your breakfast. In the meantime, I found the pictures in your old room and I think you should look at them. P.S. You are NOT fat, Rose. You are just as beautiful as you were at 19."

Picking up the stack of photos, Martha plopped down on a bench to look at them. The first photo she saw a young girl, who she assumed was Rose Tyler. She was shocked by her appearance, this wasn't what she had imagined. She was so _young_. It was obvious she was pretty, but she wore too much eye makeup for her face and her sweatshirt was really not flattering. However, what really surprised her was the man standing next to her. He looked old, around 45, and he had a rather large nose and ears. And the way Rose was looking at him, pulling on his arm like she wanted to take him somewhere, she loved this man. Flipping the photo over, Martha's eyebrows raised when she was the caption on the back that said, "The Doctor at Ploxi". Martha wondered why the man in the picture wasn't the man she knew and thought about asking him later, but decided not to when she remembered his request. If he wanted her to know he would tell her later.

There were several more pictures of Rose and the strange man until Martha finally breathed a sigh of relief. There he was, her Doctor. He was wearing a paper crown and Rose was perched in a small chair with him, positively beaming at the camera. And the Doctor, she had never seen him smile like that. There was nothing written on the back, so Martha flipped through the pictures of Rose's travels with the Doctor.

However, she suddenly stopped like she noticed something odd with the picture. In it sat Rose on the Doctor's lap, but he didn't have on his usual suit. In fact, there was something else about him that just seemed off. Looking closer, Martha suddenly realized what it was with the help of the empty alcohol containers other people were holding in the picture. She could tell from the Doctor's eyes that he was drunk and she was positively certain that the Doctor wasn't affected by alcohol in the slightest. Flipping the picture over, Martha actually let out a squeak when she read the back. Martha blinked twice at the words making sure they were right. Yep, there it was, "John Smith at New Years". How could that be? Rose was talking about John Smith in those letters like the Doctor wasn't there. But that was the Doctor! It had to be, it was him in the photo. There was only one more photo after this, but she wanted to study this one. Rose had obviously been intimate with both men, but they were both the Doctor!

Deciding she must be going crazy, Martha flipped to the next photo and automatically screamed. She sat still, surely the Doctor would come running in. But he didn't so she picked up the picture again, wondering if she was dreaming. There was Rose sitting in a chair with an obvious pout on her face. It looked like they were at some kind of street festival. But that wasn't what was unusual. Rose was scrutinizing the cupcake she had in her hand, probably deciding if she wanted to eat it or not. She seemed oblivious to everything else, even the fact that this picture was being taken. The Doctor was seated next to her, looking at her with such love that it hurt Martha to see. He wasn't looking at her face though, he was gazing at her stomach. Her pregnant stomach. Rose was pregnant and looked to Martha to be around six months. The Doctor's hands were resting on her stomach and Rose's free hand was sprawled over one of the Doctor's hands. That must have been what the Doctor wanted Martha to discover by going into their room.

With extra care, Martha placed the photographs back where she had gotten them and began to look around for any other signs. Anything to tip her off about whether or not Rose had been really pregnant. With the new information, Martha suddenly realized that Rose's odd food choices must be from odd pregnancy cravings. But that didn't help her that much, had Rose had the baby already when the Doctor had lost her?

After searching for a few more minutes and finding nothing strange, Martha gave up and slunk back to her own bedroom. She was more confused now than ever. Just as she had promised, she never mentioned her findings to the Doctor again. Instead she felt like she understood him so much more and she pitied him. He was so _lonely_ and there was nothing she could do to help.

…

"Is that what you do though, seriously? Do you just get bored of us and leave us here?" Martha asked as she listened to Jack's story of how the Doctor had abandoned him. Sure, she had thought about his past companions, but she never realized he just left them.

"Not if you're blonde," Jack joked, causing Martha to practically jump in surprise. She hadn't expected him to be so upfront with it.

"Of course she was blonde," Martha laughed back. So far she was liking Jack, he wasn't afraid to say anything. "They really aren't lying when they say blondes have all the fun!"

"Just think, if we died our hair he might just give us a baby," Jack muttered, a grin filling his face at the strange mental image. "Because if you lock the Doctor in a room long enough with a blonde they'll come out with a baby!"

Martha actually bit her tongue at Jack's last comment, she was shocked that he had known that Rose was pregnant as well. She was so caught up in thoughts that she accidently ran into the Doctor. He had stopped walking and had turned, fully glaring at Jack. "Don't you dare," the Doctor whispered, his face bordering on furious. "I didn't care that she was _blonde_."

"John Smith did," Jack retorted. Martha started at that, she never did get the story of John Smith. She just knew the one time she had brought up the name to the Doctor he had gotten very quiet and left soon after that, something he obviously didn't want to talk about. Apparently Jack didn't care about that because he continued. "Tell me, Doctor, did she ever say his name in bed?"

"I'm warning you, Jack…" the Doctor hissed, completely ignoring the fact that Martha had stepped between him and Jack.

"She did, didn't she? It seems as if your plan didn't work as well as you thought it would…" Jack taunted as the Doctor's eyes turned dark and angry, but broken as well. It was an odd combination of expressions, almost painful to look at.

Martha really was confused now, she just knew Jack was very upset at the Doctor for something he had done in the past. "Hey, stop it. Both of you."

They just ignored her, Jack talking again. "Right after you get back, you have to _claim_ Rose as yours," Jack began, stopping when he noticed the Doctor was about to interrupt him. "Don't. I thought you loved her."

"Of course I did," the Doctor said. "I still love her."

"Then why isn't she with you now, Doctor? You said she didn't die at Canary Wharf," Jack exclaimed. "Rose and the baby need you."

"Clara," the Doctor muttered, turning his back as he began to walk away from them, clearly ending the conversation. "My daughter's name is Clara and I would give anything to be there for her, but I _can't_. I just can't. So please don't you dare talk to me like I would choose this."

The Doctor marched ahead of them, leaving Martha and Jack both standing in shock at his words. After that he wouldn't mention it again, but they knew from the look in his eyes exactly what he was thinking about.

…

Martha felt terrible leaving him, she knew that in a way he needed her. But she couldn't do it anymore, it hurt her too much. Here she was, in love with an _alien_ who would never return her affection, and she was prepared to spend the rest of her life pining after him. After the whole Master fiasco she had come to understand something; that she was worth more than that.

"I just can't," she whispered. From the expression on the Doctor's face she knew he understood exactly what she was saying. She couldn't do it anymore, the traveling with the madman in a blue box.

"Yeah," the Doctor responded as he glanced down at the floor, stopping twisting the levers to send them on another adventure through time and space.

"I've spent all these years trying to train to be a doctor," Martha explained, knowing that she was ending this the right way and the right time. "And now I've got people to look after. They saw half the people on this planet slaughtered and they're devastated. I can't leave them."

The Doctor shook his head, his eyes unreadable to Martha. She knew he was hurting, but she also knew it needed to be done. Because the only way that the Doctor survived was to move on and she was helping him do that, giving him a perfect reason why this was happening right now. "Of course not," he muttered. They exchanged a deep look for several moments, thinking about all they had learned from each other. At almost the same time, both of their mouths lifted into a small smile. The Doctor smiled a little brighter as he moved towards Martha, saying the words he never had to her before. "Thank you."

Then he pulled Martha in for a long hug, not wanting to let her go. Thankfully, Martha understood and gripped him tighter. He had _needed_ her. She had helped him not fall apart, help a small part of him come back together after losing so much.

"Martha Jones, you saved the world," the Doctor exclaimed as he released her, sending her a smile that used to stop her heart.

"Yes, I did," she confidently responded. Because if there was one thing she learned, it was that she was so much more than she had ever dreamed she could be. "I spent a lot of time with you thinking I was second best. But you know what?" Martha said, poking the Doctor on the chest to ease the tension. "I am good," she stated. It was then that she realized the magnitude of what she was doing, the Doctor would be left alone again. "Are you going to be all right?"

"I always am," the Doctor lied. He knew Martha didn't believe him, she had seen him at his low points. But thankfully she didn't comment.

"Goodbye then," Martha whispered for what she hoped was not the last time. She leaned forward and pulled him in for another hug. "Bye."

Martha walked off of the TARDIS confidently before she realized she wasn't done yet. She was going to tell him a story about a mate she knew at university who spent years pining over a man, but she knew she could do better than that. He knew that she had fancied him and she wasn't going to rub it in his face. After all, she understood why he couldn't be with her that way. He had just lost Rose and their baby, he couldn't even think about loving anyone else.

"Doctor," Martha said as she stepped back onto the TARDIS. "I know how sad you are and I am sorry I couldn't make the pain go away. But I just want to tell you that I'm sure Rose doesn't hate you for what happened."

"Martha…" the Doctor whispered, his eyes warning her not to continue talking about Rose.

"It was her choice, Doctor," Martha explained with a soft smile. "She saved the world, Doctor and I'm sure she is helping save the other universe as well. Because you _loved_ her, Doctor and she knew it. And you have a daughter and I'm sure she is magnificent and she knows who her father is. So don't think it was all pain, Rose has Clara now. She will be okay and I have a feeling that someday you will see her again. Because you are the Doctor and you make impossible things happen."

"She's my impossible girl," the Doctor muttered as he looked down at his feet. "Thank you, Martha. I don't know what I would've done without you here with me."

"I know," Martha chimed as she stepped forward and handed him her phone. "Here, take my phone. And if, no _when_, it rings you come and see me."

The Doctor let out a real smile at her as she turned to leave. "I'll see you again. Don't be alone, Doctor. Rose wouldn't want that."

And with that Martha Jones stepped out of the TARDIS for what she thought would be the last time, proud of herself for being so immature. Because even though it had taken her almost a year, she understood the Doctor now and she knew it was her time to go and she would never regret her time with him.

**Like Martha a bit better!? In case you are wondering about the letters, Rose wrote the Doctor one every day that he was human. Any other questions about anything I mentioned please review or PM me! Seriously though, I hope you liked this chapter because I personally loved writing it! One of my favorites! Please REVIEW though! :)**

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**

**P.S. If anyone wants to KIK me or anything, send me a PM and I will tell you my username...though it is the same as the one on here.  
**


	5. The Stars Going Out

**Yay! Another update. Sorry, this chapter is sort of a filler...but things will speed up soon! I promise!**

**PLEASE! Read and enjoy and hopefully review! Seriously though, reviews are the reason I keep writing so quickly, so please do remember that and leave a little teeny review for me!**

**Thank you all and hope my interpretation of this is okay!**

**Also, a big thanks to Emilie Brown for my new cover!**

The Stars Going Out

Rose was humming a now familiar lullaby to Clara when she heard her cellphone ringing. And not just any ring, the song she had set to Torchwood. Rose glanced down at the three-month old baby just beginning to nod off to sleep before she stepped out of the nursery and answered the phone.

"Rose!" Zoey's voice scared her, it sounded so heated. Rose hadn't even spoken up yet, Zoey had just started talking the moment she picked up the phone. "I think it's time."

"Time for what?" Rose asked as she froze right outside of the doorway to the kitchen. She knew exactly what she meant, she just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Oh, she had noticed that the time was nearing for it to begin. Almost every night she brought Clara out onto the balcony and told her about the adventures she had with the Doctor. She wished the little girl could respond to her, tell her that she would remember the stories that Rose had a hard time telling. There were times when she would stop halfway and just let the tears roll down her cheeks, hardly believing that part of her life was over and done with. That she would probably never feel the rush of adrenaline as the Doctor turned towards her with a goofy grin on his face as he grabbed her hand and said the words that had become sacred between them: run. And it wasn't only that, it was seeing so much more of the universe. Here she hadn't even had a chance to visit anywhere besides London, Cardiff, and Norway. On most days she didn't have anything to do with Torchwood. Instead she spent the day with her precious daughter, often going over to Pete's mansion to spend time with her mother and to the man that was slowly but surely becoming her father. On the rare times she had to actually go into Torchwood for work she usually brought Clara with her, needing her to be in her arms as she watched the ominous halls.

"You know the stars have been going out more frequently," Zoey continued in a practiced voice. That was something the woman was very good at, telling things exactly as they were, but not being unnecessarily cruel. Still, Rose was rather fond of Zoey and considered her a good friend.

Rose let out a breath before she responded. Of course she knew that, she had studied the readouts herself. In fact, on the nightly escapades to the balcony Rose had looked up at the star filled sky and had physically seen one of the stars blink out existence on more than a few occasions. "The dimension cannon is working?"

"I think so," Zoey began to say with so much hope in her voice Rose couldn't help but smile. "You better come in. And don't bring Clara with you, we don't want her near anything until we are sure it is safe for the people standing around it."

"Thank you, Zoey!" Rose breathed into the phone. "I'm on my way," she said as she began to frantically get everything ready to go.

"Rose," Zoey warned before she hung up. "Don't get your hopes up yet…even if it does work, it'll take a while to lock onto the correct universe and find the Doctor."

Rose assured her that she wouldn't expect results in a couple of hours and couldn't help but smile as she scooped Clara up and started to go bring her for Jackie to watch. As the little girl in pink blinked sleepily at her, Rose couldn't help but hold her closer. "We're going to get daddy back!"

…

Three months later and Rose could hardly recognize the sky above her. Everything had changed so fast that it scared her. The dimension jumping had started a while ago and so far they had failed to land in the correct century even once. Each time they did another test Rose would sit in the room with the rest of the team, waiting for the field worker to come back with the data that would tell them which universe they ended up in. So far her old universe was out of reach, as if the breach still wasn't large enough.

Mickey had jumped multiple times and always shared his experience with Rose, which is what they were doing now. For the first time Rose wasn't there when they used the cannon because Clara had stayed up all night crying and had a slight fever, but she seemed to be much better now. Still, Rose wasn't about to leave her with her mother, which is why she had missed the phase and was getting the information from Mickey right now.

"So, how did it go this time?" Rose asked as she brought Mickey his well-deserved tea and plopped onto the couch next to him.

"Different, Rose," Mickey responded in a half-hearted tone as he sipped on the hot tea. "It was so weird, Rose."

"Good weird, yeah?" Rose questioned, letting her hope rise. After all, Mickey usually just said it was the same as always. Ending up in some totally unfamiliar place that definitely was not the correct universe and getting phased back only minutes later. Sometimes the locations were dangerous, but more often than not the parallel universes were just like barren lands.

"I guess you could say that…" Mickey answered in a solemn tone. "We were in the correct universe for sure."

"Did you?" Rose mumbled, her eyes widening at the news. "Did you find the Doctor?"

Mickey stared at her for a long second before he responded again. "It isn't time yet, Rose. But we do know we were in the correct universe. There was this woman there, this loud redhead."

"Oh my god!" Rose squealed, leaping off the couch with a panicked expression on her face. "Did the Doctor regenerate into a woman?... What would I do?"

"He can do that?" Mickey exclaimed with a small smirk. He had come to terms with the Doctor and Rose's relationship, but it still surprised him at times. He just couldn't comprehend how Rose had fallen head over heels for an alien. Of course, if that would happen to anyone it would be the Rose Tyler that he had grown up with.

"Unfortunately…" Rose whispered halfway to herself, but she sat back down on the couch with a serious expression on her face. "But what were you talking about the loud redhead for?"

Mickey gulped before he spoke again, unsure of how Rose would handle his response. "She is our link to the Doctor, or we hope she will be. There is all of this energy coming off of her, like she is the center of an entire universe. So our plan is to time our shifts along with the universe that is forming around her and figure out what to do from there."

"How is she connected to the Doctor, though?" Rose gasped as she leaned forwards. "I mean, how will following this one woman with the dimension cannon help anything at all?"

"Ummm…we think she is the Doctor's companion," Mickey explained with a glance at Rose to gauge her reaction. "We will know more in a few days after some of the readings come through."

To his surprise, Rose wasn't looking upset like he thought she would be. Instead she wore a mournful smile. "Good…I'm glad he isn't alone. I mean, I'm not alone, I've got my precious little girl and I wouldn't want him to be."

It wasn't until long after Mickey left that Rose allowed herself to cry. She could scarcely hold it together so well as he had lingered around explaining some inconsistencies she really didn't care about in the slightest. She had absolutely no idea how long it had been since the Doctor had lost her in his timeline, but obviously enough time to get a new companion. Or maybe it had been centuries and he wore a completely different face and gone through multiple companions that had fallen in love with the alien in a blue box. Whatever it was, she just hoped he was happy.

…

It didn't take long for Rose to figure out something was going on without her knowledge of it. All of her team at Torchwood were doing a great job ignoring her and even when they didn't the atmosphere was tense and she knew they were trying to get away from her. It wasn't until one month later that it happened.

"Rose! It's time," Mickey announced early one morning when he showed up at her flat unannounced. "We have so much to tell you."

"Am I going somewhere?" Rose mumbled, still in a sleepy haze as Mickey ran about throwing a lot of Clara's things into a bag and tossing it at Rose before he appeared in front of her once more with the cranky seven month old baby in his arms. "What are you _doing_?"

"We got to get to Torchwood right now!" Mickey said in an exasperated tone as he practically pulled Rose out of the flat and slammed the door behind him, not stopping his mad pace until they were all inside of his car.

"Did something terrible happen?" Rose asked, desperately hoping that was not the case right now.

Mickey let out a tense chuckle as he sped down the road, barely explaining a thing. "Pete and Jackie are at Torchwood waiting for us."

"Mum never goes there…she hates that place," Rose exclaimed, finally fully awake as the enormity of what was happening finally hit her. "Did you find it, Mickey? The correct breach?"

"Yep," Mickey responded just as they pulled into Torchwood. "But there is a longer story than that."

"Then tell it to me now!" Rose practically begged. If there was one thing she hated it was if people didn't tell her the whole truth because they thought that she was too fragile to face reality.

"Fine," Mickey began as he led her through Torchwood. "Well, I did all of the phasing when it came to the redhead woman. Donna Noble is her name. You see, a parallel universe formed around her just as we had predicted and we found a way to delete that universe."

Rose stopped dead in her tracks as her mind processed what was being said. "Wait, why would you _want _to delete a universe?"

"It was wrong," Mickey explained, telling her the whole truth. "The Doctor was dead in that universe," he glanced down at Rose, but saw that she appeared fine so continued talking. "With some nudges in the right direction from me as I used the cannon to get me to important times, Donna was able to get rid of that universe and go back into the correct one. And that is where she is traveling with the Doctor, but the stars haven't started going out there yet. Which is why Donna was important, we gave her a warning to tell the Doctor. Because the stars are about to go out in that universe and we are going to go help him right now."

"Right now?" Rose asked in a quiet voice after she had digested what Mickey had told her. "But I'm not ready. My whole life is here right now…what about my mum and Pete?"

"They know about it," Mickey said, hoping his apology would cut it. "We just couldn't tell you, didn't want your hopes to get up until it was time. So don't worry, your mum and her husband will be able to clean up any lose strings after you leave. Jackie wasn't too happy at first that you were leaving her, but she knew that it was always inevitable. She wanted to come too at first, but we just can't let here. After this last jump with the cannon there is no coming back to this universe."

"I understand," Rose mumbled as she worried her bottom lip. "I guess it is time then, what I have been waiting for so long for…"

Mickey sent her what he hoped to be a reassuring smile as he pulled her and Clara with him to make sure it would all work out okay. He knew it wasn't positive that Rose and he would end up near each other, but they would be in the same time and universe. But he knew Rose could do it, if anyone could it would be her.

It seemed like days later, even though it was only a few hours, when Zoey informed her that everything was set and it was time to say goodbye to her mother. Pete had left about half an hour ago, proclaiming that he had to go to the other Torchwood to ensure that no leak happened that the authorities would happen upon. His goodbye to Rose had been full of tears and thoughts of the now lost days of the future, but she knew it would be nothing like facing Jackie Tyler.

"Mum," Rose whispered in a heartbroken voice. For once Rose was glad that Clara wasn't with her. "You knew this was going to happen."

"Rose," Jackie responded in a choked voice. "We have to make sure this is safe, Rose. Don't you dare do something reckless and stupid like you have in the past. You have to make sure that Clara doesn't get hurt. She is still a baby."

Rose gave Jackie an exasperated look before she spoke again. "Mother, you know I would _never _let anything happen to Clara. I have to do this, to warn the Doctor to save all of the universes. I am doing this to keep her and everyone else _safe_."

"After all this time, you still sound like him," Jackie exclaimed.

Thinking back to the day she had gotten trapped in Pete's world, Rose remembered when Jackie had said she was even starting to look like the Doctor. Then she had meant it as a bad thing, willing Rose to come back to her. But today Rose felt like she was proud of her. After all she had been through, all she had to suffer through by herself, Rose had worked as much as she could to defend the universe the only way she knew how. "You know it is time."

"I wish I could go with you," Jackie whispered. She was so thankful her daughter was with her, but she knew it couldn't last forever. But she knew she couldn't leave her life here. It was so wonderful, being with Pete in this universe. They had briefly discussed having another child, but with Rose raising Clara by herself they decided that wasn't something they could do at the moment.

"You will be happy here with Pete, Mum," Rose explained, finally leaning in and pulling Jackie in for a hug.

"And you," Jackie began, swallowing back tears. "You will be happy with the Doctor. Because if there is anything I know about my daughter it is that she will _not _give up. She will keep on fighting and doing what she knows is for good."

Rose clung tighter to her mother. She didn't want it to end, not yet. At that moment she was just a little girl who needed her mummy. "Mum, I love you. Know that I always will and if it is ever possible for me to tell you again I _will."_

"Of course you will, Rose," Jackie explained as she kissed Rose's cheek. "I love you, sweetheart."

With a final hug, Rose turned away from her mother and went down the hallway, towards the room where the dimension cannon was housed. She was surprised that they both had been able to hold it together during their goodbye with barely any tears shed. She was sure that she would be able to grieve later on in private, but right now there wasn't time. Earlier that day when Jackie had said her goodbyes to Clara the woman had been outright sobbing the moment she saw the little girl. She had halfway expected her mother to forbid them from going after that. But she hadn't and now here they were, with minutes left.

The moment she entered the familiar room, Zoey came up to her and handed her Clara along with a bag that had some things that the baby would need. Thankfully Clara was being quite good today and not complaining about being held, so Rose just hugged her daughter tight against her chest as Zoey explained exactly what was going to happen. Her instructions were to find Mickey amongst the chaos that would be occurring in that universe and find the Doctor. The most important thing was to find the Doctor.

"Zoey," Rose whispered as she looked at the woman that had quickly became her good friend. "I cannot thank you enough for the amazing part you had in the dimension cannon."

"I know, sweetheart," Zoey responded with a soft smile. "I just hope with all I've got that everything works out for you and Clara. And I hope this doesn't come off wrong, but I hope I never see you again."

Rose agreed in a teary voice before she turned towards where Mickey was waiting for her, as her instructions were to go directly after him. "Ready, Mickey?"

"It's time to find the Doctor," Mickey announced as he hit his dimension cannon and vanished from view.

Rose turned to look at Zoey and gave her a brief and what she hoped was final hug. She glanced around her at the parallel universe and thought about how much she had _despised_ this place at first. Still, she had lived there more than half a year and it was her home now. So she just nodded once to signal it was time, ensured that Clara was strapped tightly to her chest, and pressed the button as well. Her only thought was that this better work as everything around her dissolved.

**So, the last chapter in Pete's World? Or is it? What do you think will happen next? Any other questions about anything I mentioned please review or PM me! Please REVIEW though! :)**

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	6. Donna's Journey

**Sadly, I may not be updating for a while! I do have up to chapter 13 written, but may not have the time to post! So please be patient with me and know I am NOT going to just abandon this story. **

**That being said, after this chapter action occurs! Yeah! (P.S. I personally do not like Stolen Earth/Journey's End so hope I do okay with them)**

**Anyway, please read and hopefully enjoy! I love Donna and I hope I portrayed everything okay. Also, I am not including River in this because (like everything else I didn't include) it occurred EXACTLY like it did in the show...take from that what you may**

**Thanks for all my lovely readers and please, please, please REVIEW and I will love you forever! **

**P.S. Please review...**

Donna's Journey

The Doctor didn't want to admit to himself that he had missed the feisty redhead until he glimpsed her again through the window. The truth was that he was lonely, lonelier than he had ever been before. After Martha left him, and it was her time to leave, he had been so shocked. He wasn't used to this yet, the whole process of his companions leaving him and having to replace them. He wanted to keep them with him forever, well, Rose in particular, but Martha had been good for him as well. But too much had happened between the two of them, issues that they could never resolve. Because he had been well aware to the fact that Martha not only fancied him, but believed that she was in love with him. And that wasn't fair to either of them because he was still very much in love with Rose, the ache in his hearts had lessened, but it was still always present. Martha had just walked off of his ship when the whole Titanic incident had occurred. He had wanted to walk away, remembering the time he had taken Rose to the original ship after she forced him to watch the movie, but had known he was needed there. Then Astrid had waltzed in, so confident he couldn't help but notice her. And for a few minutes he enjoyed the familiar flirting, until he realized how _wrong_ it was. It felt like Reinette all over again and that had almost ruined everything between him and Rose. So he had delicately drawn away from Astrid, telling her that no one could travel with him anymore, he needed to be alone. She had been disappointed, he knew, but he felt like she deserved to hear it. It was all for the better in the end because Astrid had bravely sacrificed herself and saved the world. If he had been a different man, a better one, he would have offered to take Astrid to see the stars she longed to explore, but he had let her down once again. Still, he hadn't thought about taking another companion with him until Donna had pounced back into his life.

"Oi, alien boy!" Donna announced once again. She had been saying his name for several minutes, but he had just been frozen in front of the control panel that was controlling the creation of the Adipose. "You know…you look different somehow…older and sadder."

The Doctor almost jumped up in surprise, frantically returning to his work of deactivating the device. "Thanks," the Doctor murmured. "It's always nice to receive such a pleasant compliment."

"Still on your own then?" Donna asked, her audacity surprising the Doctor. "Last time you seemed so heartbroken and you just kept talking about how you lost them…who were they?"

"They were everything," the Doctor responded before he glanced up at Donna and went off on another tangent. "And I wasn't always alone since I last saw you. I traveled with this girl, just a friend of course. Her name was Martha. Martha Jones. She was just brilliant…she saved the world. But in return I destroyed half her life. But now she is fine, nah, she's good and with her family. She's gone now too."

Donna nodded, glancing down at the floor before she spoke again. "And the ones that you lost…are they?"

"Rose and Clara," the Doctor said, continuing despite Donna's shocked expression of the fact he had given her names. "Still lost, but I'll get them back if it's the last thing I do."

Donna stood for several moments whilst the Doctor played with some cords, but spoke up again to fill the silence minutes later. "Remember I said I was going to travel?" she asked the Doctor, continuing when he nodded. "I was going to do so much, see the whole world. Then I woke up the next morning, same old life that I couldn't change. It's like you were never there. Half of the time I just thought you were just some story I made up in my head, some dream that seemed like reality. But I tried. I really did try. I went to Egypt. I was going to go barefoot and everything. And then it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water, and two weeks later you're back home. It's nothing like being with you. I wish I would have taken you up on your offer, not cared how sad you were."

"What offer?" the Doctor asked as he placed his sonic screwdriver in his mouth and turned towards Donna with curious eyes.

"To come with you," Donna answered seriously, waiting for the invitation again.

Before the Doctor realized what Donna was saying, he opened his mouth and spoke up again. "Come with me?"

Of course Donna assumed he was inviting her and smiled, excited that he was asking again. "Oh yes, please!"

After that the program started and they were off to running again, making sure everyone who had taken the diet pills didn't turn into little Adipose babies.

…

The incident barely left any impression on Donna, she was much too excited about the fact that the Doctor was going to allow her to travel with him. She had been crushed for a few moments when she saw his broken face as she brought out all her bags to move into the TARDIS. Still, once they had established that no hanky panky was ever going to even be thought about between them, the Doctor had perked up and seemed excited to have her.

"Hey," Donna announced to the man in front of her after she threw the car keys into a bin for her mother to pick up later.

"Yeah?" the guy, a medium sized dark-skinned boy who looked younger than she had expected, muttered as he turned around to glance at her. There was something odd in his eyes as he glanced down at her, as if he was calculating something in his head and she was the missing formula.

"Umm," Donna mumbled, momentarily forgetting what she was going to say again. Of course it only took a few moments to pull herself together and order him about again. "A woman, a tall blonde woman, is going to come here."

The man's face dropped for a moment when she said that the woman was blonde. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I need you to watch out for her," Donna explained in a tense voice. The instructions were not that hard, he really should just accept them and let her go on her way. "When you see her tell her the keys are in that bin over there."

"So just watch?" the guy asked before he looked away and let out a chuckle. "That's me, always the Tin Dog."

By now Donna was more than a bit miffed at this man who was wasting her time so turned on her heels to go back to the waiting Doctor. "Good luck, then."

"I'll need it," the man mumbled so quietly Donna could barely hear it.

Donna didn't look back again, just pictured all of the adventures she would have on the TARDIS with the Doctor. She had waited so long for this moment and nothing was going to mess it up now. As she left, she didn't notice the guy turn around and walk away, disappearing a few moments later.

…

Donna had been traveling with the Doctor for several months and they had just met Agatha Christie. However, after the adventure the Doctor was acting very morose and Donna left him alone, instead deciding to go explore what she believed to be a never-ending library.

Still, she was a bit perturbed when the library seemed to close up and a door appeared in front of her, seemingly the only exit. With a shaking of her head about the bloody ship, Donna entered the room.

At first she was a little more than confused, as she had never seen this particular room before. It was odd to see this on the TARDIS, a nursery with bright yellow walls. She barely had time to take in her surroundings before she noticed the Doctor sitting in a rocking chair sound asleep.

"I didn't even know he could sleep…" Donna whispered to herself, walking over to the sleeping alien. He looked so much more peaceful than she had ever seen him whilst he was asleep.

However, the Doctor heard Donna's quiet words and jerked awake, practically falling out of the chair when he saw Donna standing right in front of him. "What?" he asked, oddly reminiscent of when he first met Donna. "What?"

"I think I should be the one asking you that, space boy," Donna announced as she stared him down and waited for him to speak.

"How did you even get in here?" the Doctor asked as he stared up at Donna in confusion.

"Look, I know you have had children before because of what you said when we were around Jenny," Donna continued despite the Doctor's obvious wince when she mentioned his daughter. "But I thought they were all on your home planet."

"They were," the Doctor responded, pushing himself out of the chair and walking towards the door.

"Then who slept here?" Donna asked, knowing she wasn't going to let him leave until he gave her an answer. "What baby's room was this?"

"No one slept here," the Doctor answered in a cold voice. "This room was _never _used."

Donna narrowed her eyes, reading the Doctor's expression. Throughout all her years as a temp, Donna had grown to be very talented at reading facial cues and knowing just the right words to say to get them to talk. "But you thought it was going to be used?" Donna said. "You obviously were planning on having a baby in this room."

"Leave it alone, Donna," the Doctor announced, his expression suddenly returning manic. "In fact, I should take you to the Harp Festival of the Harpinites in Fregonache! I heard that the music is so lovely that nothing will ever compare to it again, though we do need to make sure they do not hypnotize us into staying there forever."

"Doctor…" Donna warned, clearly not interested in the adventure he suggested. "Was this room for _your _child or did one of your companions just have a baby with someone else and leave before the child was born?"

The Doctor closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before he responded again. "I wouldn't let someone that was expecting travel on the TARDIS, it is just too dangerous."

"Obviously you didn't feel that way about Rose…" Donna spoke up, confident that she had come to the right assumption that Rose was the one who had the Doctor's child, Clara, she assumed was the child's name.

Apparently the Doctor accepted this defeat because he continued on without correcting her. "I shouldn't have let her travel again once she was pregnant. But she was so adamant about it and would hear of nothing else and I tried to keep her out of trouble, I really did, but obviously I wasn't good enough."

"She didn't," Donna said in a tight voice. "I know she didn't die, but did she lose the baby?"

"Nope," the Doctor responding, popping his p. "They are both safe and…happy, I assume. Clara would be three years old by now if time moves the same as it does in this universe. I saw her once, she was perfect."

Donna was left flabbergasted, the Doctor had just opened up so much to her and he didn't even act like he was regretting it. "I'm sorry you lost them…"

"Yeah," the Doctor responded as he turned around to leave the room. However, before he left he swung around to look at Donna one last time. "Donna, could you just never bring this up again? It just is painful to talk about…and I'm glad you know now, but talking about it isn't going to change what happened. Please?"

"Of course," Donna said in a sure voice. "I won't bring up Clara or Rose again. I just want to say that—"

Before Donna could finish her sentence the Doctor had exited the room, leaving Donna alone in the cheerful nursery. She stood there for several moments, hardly believing all that she had learned that day. But the room was cold and empty and she just couldn't bear standing in the nursery any longer so she hastily exited the room.

After that the TARDIS never allowed Donna to find the yellow room again, but sometimes she didn't catch a glimpse of the Doctor for hours and knew exactly where he had gone. And Donna's heart broke for the lonely man in the box, for he had lost even more than she could imagine and he just kept on running and saving everyone. She rarely brought up Clara or Rose, just as she had promised, but she thought about it often. She wished she knew everything that had happened, but she never would completely understand, not when you were with the Doctor.

…

Donna stood in shock at the strange situation that had occurred on what she expected to be a normal Christmas evening. All she knew was that there was some strange star in the sky that guns had shot down for a reason unknown to her. When she asked someone in charge what had happened he had gently tried to get away from her without telling her anything. So far all she knew was that a man who they called the Doctor had died and had just been put into an ambulance covered in a sheet. Just as she was watching an odd device fall out of the limp hand, she saw someone run up next to her.

"What is going on? What did they just find?" a dark-skinned man who seemed vaguely familiar questioned as he tried to catch his breath. Apparently he noticed the somber emotions and the ambulance, and looked at Donna once more. "They found someone, didn't they? The Doctor, yeah?"

"How would you know that?" Donna gasped. She had just heard it herself. "I mean, it was just a bloke they called the Doctor…"

The mysterious man let out a long breath before he responded, appearing a lot more calm now. "Where is he? I really need to talk to him, there is someone who needs him right now."

"You can't talk to him," Donna explained in what she hoped was a comforting tone. "I'm sorry, but he's dead, they just took him away. It may not have been who you were looking for, he could've been any doctor."

"We tried so much for this," the guy whispered to himself, ignoring Donna's presence as his eyes flitted around the street. After a few moments he straightened up and looked Donna in the eye. "And your name is?..."

"Donna," she answered. "Now you tell me yours."

"Just call me Ricky," the man, Ricky she would call him now, explained. "Though I feel like I shouldn't be here…this is just wrong. I can't tell her, it is just wrong. I can't believe this…"

By now Donna just tuned out the rest of his ramble, having no idea what he was saying until she noticed where his eyes kept on going to. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Donna asked in a tense tone. "At my back."

"I ain't," Ricky retorted in a quiet voice as his hand reached inside of his pocket.

"You are! I keep seeing it!" Donna exclaimed as she turned to examine her back. "What is there? Who did something to my back? Is there a sign or something?" she continued, only to glance back and be alone once more, Ricky nowhere to be seen.

By now almost a year had passed and not much significantly had happened, in fact Donna was itching to travel for some odd reason. Which led her to where she was now, just walking down the street when she saw someone come running out of an alley followed by a light.

"Blimey! What is up with those fireworks?" she asked as she ambled her way over to the man that had appeared. "You are okay, yeah?"

"That was weird…" the man, who she now remembered seeing before, mumbled as he glanced back in confusion. "I was just taking a little stroll."

"I know you!" Donna announced, more than a little proud of her memory. "I met you on Christmas Eve last year. Ricky?"

Ricky's eyes widened before he spoke again. "Hello, Donna," he exclaimed a little too excitedly. He sniffed loudly and glanced around as if he was checking something out in the alley behind her. "How have things been? You seem good I hope. I'm sure things have been pretty exciting… Sure have been for me."

"Stop it!" Donna announced as she finally realized what he was looking at. Her back, yet again.

"Stop what?" Ricky asked in an annoyed tone, but his eyes stayed locked on her back.

"Looking over my shoulder, at my back," Donna explained as Ricky backed away a bit from her. "People everywhere have been doing that. Everywhere, even on the street. All of these strangers that I catch, staring at me. Act like there is something horrifying on my back…so I go home and check and there is nothing there!"

Ricky just ignored her words and continued on in the pleasant conversation he had initiated at the beginning. "What are you doing for Christmas? Have any plans at all?"

"No, not anything," Donna said hesitantly. "Ages away and we always just stay at home around Christmas. Why do you ask?"

"You should get out with your family. Leave London for a bit, breathe in the fresh air. Just don't stay in the city."

"Why would I do that?" Donna asked. Ricky sure did have quite a bit of nerve to be talking to her like that.

Ricky looked like he was rushed and spoke a few more words. "I know how tough it can be to afford a Christmas break, I used to be a mechanic. But you just bought that raffle ticket," he continued before she could interrupt him yet again. "Don't ask…but if you win there is a nice luxury weekend break for Christmas. And I suggest you use it, Donna Noble."

"I think you should leave me alone," Donna announced as she turned away with a huff, not to look back at the secretive man, scared by how much she knew.

Donna thought of Ricky often after the raffle ticket turned out to be the winner and she was safe out of London when the Titanic blew up the city. Still, things were not good for their family after that. Everyone was relocated, and they were now stuck in the slums and the sky was filling with smoke. It was at this moment she got a feeling that Ricky was there.

Apparently she was right because just as she turned a corner he appeared and talked without a hello. "The bloody ATMOS devices. Good think it isn't bad here since not much petrol is around anymore," he continued as if she knew exactly what was going on. "But other countries…they are just choking with this gas."

"Can't _someone_ help?" Donna asked. She couldn't stand it any longer, so much suffering around her. And it seemed as if no one would ever come and save them either.

"People are," Ricky explained as he led her to sit next to him on a bench. "This group on the Sontaran ship. Just wait a second."

At Ricky's words the sky burned and all of the gas was absorbed and Donna sat in awe. "What just happened?"

"Torchwood," Ricky said with pride. "Good old bunch. Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones…didn't make it out alive. And the Captain of Innuendo's is stuck on the Sontaran home world…they are all gone now."

"Can't you tell me why this is all happening?" Donna asked. If anyone knew, she was sure it was Ricky. He seemed so confident despite all the horrors around them.

"This wasn't supposed to happen, Donna," Ricky explained with a strange glint in his eye. "This…man…he stopped it. All of it. The Titanic, the Adipose, the ATMOS, all of it."

Donna suddenly felt as if she should have known that and glanced at her feet before she responded again. "The Doctor? It all goes back to him…but who is he? Doctor who?"

"He's hard to forget," Ricky said with a smile. "Can't seem to shake him myself. In fact, I think we all dream about him sometimes, even you," Ricky confessed with a soft smile. "He always wears this suit with sneakers. Real tall and thin. My friend always goes on about his hair…maybe it is a female thing to notice or something. But she said it was important to tell you he had great hair. And, gah I don't want to say this, but I'm supposed to tell you he was slim and a little bit foxy."

She didn't know how to respond to that…how could someone thin be foxy. So she changed the topic. "Who are you then?"

"I used to be like you, I guess," Ricky explained. "I traveled with him a bit, but not like you did. In a different world you traveled with the Doctor."

"I'm sorry, but he's dead," Donna said in a cold voice. She didn't like where this was heading, this was the only world she knew.

"You're right, but you were supposed to be there," Ricky muttered as he glanced down at his fingers. "He needed someone, he shouldn't have been alone after all that happened. You were there to make him leave, you saved him, Donna."

Donna was suddenly hit with an odd memory and practically jumped up, scared now. "Stop doing this! Just leave me alone right now!"

"Something's coming, Donna. Something so much worse than this."

"This world is falling apart!" Donna exclaimed as she backed away. "How could anything ever be worse than living in this hell?"

"Just trust me," Ricky said as he moved closer. "We need the Doctor. I had to come from a different universe because every universe is in danger…something is coming from the stars and he needs to stop it," he continued on in a somber tone. "The darkness is coming, Donna."

Donna let out a squeak, she was scared enough as it was. "Why are you always telling me? I _can't_ do anything? I'm not special at all. I'm just a temp, can't even be that anymore. I'm just nothing."

"Donna Noble, you're the most important woman in the whole of creation," Ricky whispered, his voice so true.

"Can't you tell I'm tired? I can't do this anymore," Donna explained. She wanted to give up like her mother had, it looked so easy that way.

"I understand, we're all tired," Ricky muttered as he glanced up at the stars. "In three weeks you'll come to me. With your grandfather's telescope, you will be certain then," Ricky stopped for a moment, meeting her eyes with a sad expression. "I don't want to say this. But I'm so sorry, you're going to die."

It didn't take long until she realized that Ricky was right, that she did need to find him. And that is how it all happened, she found him again and now found herself in what seemed to be a military base with still having no idea what was going on.

"Why are you always so secretive?" Donna asked Ricky as he turned away. "I don't think Ricky is your real name."

"Too many different realities," Ricky explained with a smirk. "Plus, the boss would know exactly who I was if he heard the name Ricky."

It was then that a woman, Captain Erisa Magambo, stood up and began to speak to Donna as well. "Thank you for helping us, Donna Noble."

"Doing what?" Donna asked, clearly exasperated, but knowing she was not going to get an answer.

For a few moments Donna spaced out, just staring at the odd police box that was sitting in the middle of the room. She felt drawn to the thing, but she had no idea why. And now Ricky and Magambo were having an odd conversation about whether or not the blue thing was awake or not…but that wasn't possible.

It was then that Ricky turned to her and spoke as if he was reading her mind. "Come on, let's go see it," he explained, continuing when he saw the confused look on Donna's face. "The police box, it was salvaged under the Thames."

Ricky did not take no for an answer and practically pulled her into the box. Just as she did in the other reality, Donna ran back outside and ran back in a few times, finally stopping and looking at Ricky. "Can I have a coffee? Well, maybe something a little stronger than coffee…"

Ricky let out a pleasant laugh before he continued. "I know, it got me too the first time. Well, it is called the TARDIS. Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space," he said with a nod as he patted the coral wall. "This room used to be impressive, like a real alien machine. But I am pretty sure it's dying now."

"And this was the Doctor's, yeah?" Donna asked as she stepped a bit farther into the ship.

"Yep…he was a Time Lord," Ricky continued with a little laugh. "Not arrogant at all, yeah? Well, he was the last of his kind. The Time Lord's I mean."

"Why was he around me?" Donna questioned with a sad glance. "I'm not special and he so obviously is."

"No," Ricky countered with a shaking of the head as he reached out to touch her shoulder. "The Doctor thought you were brilliant. Utterly brilliant," Ricky continued on without listening to her words. "I understand, I used to think I was just a Tin Dog. But now I know better, the Doctor showed you how much you could be when you were with him. He does it to everyone, brings hope about how amazing they truly are before you even realize it's happening."

It was then that Ricky motioned for her to follow him and led her to a circle of mirrors with lights pointing at it. "What is this?"

"We can't understand the TARDIS fully, but we've scraped off the surface technology so you can see the creature," Ricky explained as he led Donna to the middle of the circle.

"What creature?" Donna asked, just as Ricky left her alone in the center of the circle. "Wait! Stop, what is going on?"

"Ready. And activate," Magambo announced in a calculated voice as Donna squeezed her eyes shut tight.

"Open your eyes, please," Ricky said as the sound stopped and all was silent. "Just open your eyes and look at it. It has always been there, a part of you, you just need to look."

That was all the motivation Donna needed as her eyes flew open as she gasped at what she saw. A giant stag horn beetle was hanging off of her back, like a rucksack of sorts. "What the hell is that?"

"We aren't sure," Ricky muttered as he walked around the circle and looked at the beetle himself. "We just know it feeds off time by changing time. It makes someone take a different turn. Some little thing, but it turns into meetings never made, children never born, a life never loved. But with you…"

"But I'm not important! I never did anything!" Donna announced as she began to swat at the beetle on her back.

"You didn't know you were at the time," Ricky explained. "You turned right instead of left. Just an ordinary day for you, but you turned right. If you would've gone left you would have met the Doctor and the whole world would be different. Just because of you."

By now Donna was more than overwhelmed, but couldn't stand the sight of the horrifying bug any longer. "Get this thing off of me! Please, get it off!"

"I can't," Ricky whispered with a pitying expression. "It is in a state of flux. Gah, I'm even sounding like _him_ right now!"

"So I'm not special…" Donna whispered with a hug. "I'm just a host! It would do this to anyone."

"No, the reality is bending around you. Always has been, since the day you were born. That is how I found you, why I need you," Ricky explained, ignoring Magambo's warning. "We need you, not just the Doctor. You can help us find him."

Thankfully, Ricky turned off the machine then so that the bug was no longer visible to Donna. "I know it is still there…how can I get rid of it?"

"Time travel," Ricky announced as he pulled a jacket onto her shoulders with lots of wires hanging off of it. "The TARDIS helped us find the date. Monday the twenty fifth, one minute past ten in the morning. The time is important Donna, don't forget it. Your car was on Little Sutton Street leading to the Ealing Road, but you turned right heading towards Griffin's Parade. You need to turn left. That's the most important thing. You've got to go back, turn left. Have you got that, Donna? One minute past ten, make yourself turn left, heading for the Chiswick Highroad."

Then Ricky led her to the circle again. "I don't want to see that _thing _again," Donna ordered.

"You won't have to, it is just a time machine," Ricky explained. "I don't really explain all the energy, just know you are going to travel in time and it better work."

"But what if it doesn't work?" Donna asked, only to be met with a shaking of the head from Ricky not to bring that up. "So I just go and change the way I turn? How do I do that? Just argue with myself?"

"Now that would be a good show…" Ricky mumbled to himself before he looked up again. "Good luck, Donna Noble."

Donna nodded as they began to send her away. "I think I understand what you meant now. About you dying, I mean. But that is because this world won't exist any longer. I won't actually die, will I? I'll be in the Doctor's world and still be alive. When I change this, I don't die. I'm right, aren't I?"

"I'm sorry," Ricky muttered as he backed away as the machine was activated.

"I can't die! I have a future! With the Doctor. You promised me that! Ricky, you promised me I would meet the Doctor!" Donna screeched, only to see a light and find herself in a completely different time and place, with only minutes to change the most important decision she ever made.

By the time Donna was back safe and sound with the Doctor she could barely remember what had happened, like it was a dream. Still, she was trying her best to explain it all to the Doctor. "That man…I can hardly remember."

"He never existed, hardly matters," the Doctor announced as he finished scanning the beetle with his sonic.

"But the stars," Donna whispered as she tried to get the Doctor's attention. "He said the stars are going out."

"That was a different world, Donna," the Doctor explained in a calm voice.

"He said all worlds," Donna said, trying to show how important this was. "Every single world. The darkness has already happened there and it is coming here."

"Who was he?" the Doctor asked, suddenly still in his movements.

Donna smiled a bit, glad the Doctor was finally listening before she spoke again. "Ricky, but I don't think that was his real name. Seemed like a perfectly normal bloke…dark-skinned and confident."

"Ricky?" the Doctor asked with a faraway look in his eye. "Why would he say Ricky?"

"He said it was one you would recognize," Donna explained as the Doctor stood up and glanced around. "Mentioned something about a dog as well…" Donna muttered, struggling to remember. "A tin dog, that's what he said."

The Doctor's face dropped, then suddenly looked terrified as he sprinted out of the room and turned to look at Donna before he stepped outside. "Tin Dog? Those were his exact words? Did he say anything else?"

"He told me to warn you right before the other me died," Donna explained to the crazed Doctor. "Said someone else was coming, but wouldn't tell me who."

"Who else? What did he say?" the Doctor asked as he gripped onto her shoulders so tight it hurt.

"He just said Bad Wolf," Donna said, but that was all she had time to say.

The Doctor ran outside, spinning around in circles as he looked around him. Every printed thing had changed to read only those two words. They all said Bad Wolf. Everything, even the TARDIS. The Doctor didn't speak a word to Donna as he flung open the TARDIS doors and stepped inside with an unreadable expression on his face. There was a red light and the cloister bell tolled, the song reverberating around the console room.

"Doctor, what is happening?" Donna asked as she ran up behind him, more than a little scared now. "What's Bad Wolf?"

"Rose," the Doctor whispered her name like a prayer as he turned to look at Donna with terror in his eyes. "It means Rose is coming back."

"Isn't that good?" Donna said in what she hoped was an upbeat voice.

"It's the end of the universe," the Doctor stated in a monotone voice as he ran to the controls and piloted the TARDIS away, knowing that everything was about to change.

**WHAT?! Why did I have to end there? ;) I hope you enjoyed this chapter with the slight changes (even less than Martha) that I wrote into it! Sorry if it is repetitive, but I changed it up as much as I could. So...what do you want to happen in the next few chapters!?**

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	7. The Almost Reunion

**Sadly, I may not be updating for a while! I do have up to chapter 13 written, but may not have the time to post! So please be patient with me and know I am NOT going to just abandon this story.**

**That being said, after this chapter action occurs! Yeah! (P.S. I personally do not like Stolen Earth/Journey's End so hope I do okay with them)**

**Anyway, please read and hopefully enjoy! Hope you are okay with the changes I have made with what happens in this episode!**

**Thanks for all my lovely readers and please, please, please REVIEW and I will love you forever!**

**P.S. Please review...**

The Almost Reunion

The first thing Rose was aware of when her mind processed what had happened was that Clara was not only crying, but positively wailing.

"Shhh, Clara," Rose crooned as she bounced Clara in her arms as she adjusted the bag over her shoulder. It was then that Rose realized that she wasn't in the middle of the street like she had expected, but instead was in a backyard. There was something that told her she should know where she was, but something else grabbed her attention first. She glanced up at the sky, and instead of seeing the stars blinking out like she was used to, she saw only darkness and the shape of countless other planets not far from Earth. Apparently this universe was actually running ahead of Pete's World and she had no idea what was happening, which didn't help calm Clara down.

However, just then Rose heard the back door swing open, terrified of who would come at her now. And Clara was still crying, scared by the dimension jump. As Rose saw a shape appear in the doorway she held Clara closer, cursing the fact that she had arrived far away from both Mickey and the Doctor.

"Rose?" the familiar voice called, coming out of the shadows, clearly shock in her eyes.

"What?" Rose said, her eyes filling with surprise. "Sarah Jane?"

Sarah Jane rushed over to be closer to Rose, her eyes widening at the sight of the crying child. "Come on, it isn't safe outside."

Following Sarah Jane inside, Rose tried to calm Clara down to no avail. As Sarah Jane instructed her to sit on the couch, Rose glimpsed a teenage boy peeking curiously at her from around a corner and was thoroughly confused. There was no way he could be Sarah Jane's son, but who else could he be?

"Can I?" Rose asked, adjusting her grip on Clara, feeling bad that Clara wouldn't stop screaming. "Can I calm her down before I explain?"

After Sarah Jane nodded, Rose placed the bag on the floor, searching for what would calm Clara down. Finding a bottle of formula, Rose shifted Clara over so that she way lying against a pillow. Leaning over and trying to croon that it was going to be okay and to calm down for mummy, it took Rose a full five minutes of torture before Clara quieted down. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rose gave the bottle to Clara, relieved when she began to feed herself without a fuss.

"I used a dimension jump to get here," Rose said, pulling out the yellow button machine to show Sarah Jane. "The stars were going out in the parallel universe. It wasn't just there, all worlds were going out. That is why it was possible to use the dimension jump to get here. We needed to get here to find the Doctor. But this hasn't happened for us yet, do you know what it is?"

"We don't know what is happening, Rose," Sarah Jane explained as she sat on the couch next to Rose. "We just know that the Earth was pulled somewhere else with other planets. Mr. Smith, my computer system, says there are twenty seven. You saw Luke earlier," Sarah Jane continued with a sad smile on her face. "He's my son. He's adopted," she explained when Rose looked confused. "And, Rose…there are Daleks here. In the street killing, the Daleks are here."

"But what about the Doctor?" Rose asked, trying to keep her voice even. "The Doctor would be able to fix this, where is he?"

"Don't worry about it yet," Sarah Jane murmured as she turned her head to look at Clara again. "I never thought I would see the day when the Doctor had a child…" she murmured to herself before turning to Rose. "How old is she?"

Reaching over and picking up Clara and handing her to Sarah Jane, she spoke up again. "Seven months," she answered as her face grew a smile. "I don't know what I would have done without her."

"Excuse me for asking," the older woman said, adjusting the baby in her lap. "I thought that Time Lords and humans weren't compatible. The Doctor said that once…" Sarah Jane mumbled, noticing Rose's shocked expression. "Oh, we were never like _that_, sweetheart," she assured Rose. "I was just wondering why the Time Lords had such a distaste for humanity if they looked the same and he said it was because a few of his species were breeding with humans and that just wouldn't do. So they eventually bred out their fertility with other species besides their own and started using the Looms. After that the Gallifreyans advanced and developed TNA with three strings instead of two like we have," Sarah Jane paused, remembering how baffled she had been when the Doctor had offhandedly mentioned this to her. "Of course that all happened millennia before the Doctor was even born."

"The thought of the Looms creep me out," Rose mumbled halfway to herself before she giggled. "The thought of _weaving _a baby…it's just wrong," she stopped, wondering what she should say to Sarah Jane. "And it is all very complicated with Clara…wasn't planned or anything like that. I mean, she is the Doctor's daughter, but not _technically_," Rose paused, her face flushing red at Sarah's confused expression. "The Doctor had to turn human…and…you know…Clara happened then."

"Oh," Sarah Jane said, nodding her head at what Rose had told her. "That man never fails to surprise me," she explained, deciding she had to tell Rose something. "Rose, I saw the Doctor once after he lost you," she said, waiting for Rose to register what she was telling her. "I just want you to know how special you were to him. No matter what happens, that daft alien loved, still loves, you and your daughter. You weren't just a normal companion for him, it was so much more than that," Sarah Jane stopped, deciding that was all she was going to tell Rose. "I feel like he wouldn't want you to know about how upset he was, so I'm going to leave it there. And…I wouldn't tell him when you see him again."

"He always said he wanted me to stay with him forever," Rose whispered as she tried not to cry, not noticing Sarah's wince that the Doctor would have never said that to her. "And I'm going to keep that promise," she finished, her eyes opening with new strength behind them. "So, no one knows where he is?"

"We can't reach him," Sarah Jane quietly murmured, her head perking up when Luke called out for her that Mr. Smith was registering something. "I need to check that, Rose. Just stay here with your daughter, I'll be back in a minute."

While Sarah Jane was gone, Rose leaned over Clara once more, kissing the little girl on the forehead. "It'll be okay, Clara," she lied, not sure if anything would ever be okay again. "Mummy is going to find daddy real soon, sweetheart. Oh, he'll be so happy to meet you, Clara. We just need to be brave right now until we can find him. Remember that, no matter what happens that mummy loves you."

"Rose, you better get in here," Sarah Jane called from the other room, her voice showing how serious she was at the moment.

Glad that Clara looked like she was about to nod off, Rose followed Sarah Jane, surprised to see a large computer system with a screen full of people she recognized. "Harriet Jones?" Rose asked as she stepped in front of the camera, shocked by what was happening. "Jack? Oh my God, Jack!"

"Rose!" Harriet said, her jaw dropping that she was in the same room as Sarah Jane. "I thought you were dead? Your name…it said you died."

At the same time, Jack spoke up, his face a flirty grin. "Looks like the Doctor can't get rid of you that easily…even trapping you in a parallel universe can't keep you two apart," he said as his smile grew. "I can't believe you found your way back. Does the Doctor know you got back?"

"Wait," Rose announced as she glanced at the dark-skinned girl on the other corner of the screen. "Who are you?"

"Martha Jones," she answered, her eyes looking Rose up and down. "I used to travel with the Doctor. Oh my God, I can't believe you are back, Rose. Wow…we have to let the Doctor know that you are back," Martha continued, addressing Harriet now. "But how did you connect me to this conversation?"

"This, ladies and gentlemen," Harriet announced, gesturing to the screen. "Is the Subwave Network. It is programmed to find anyone who can help us contact the Doctor during times of crisis."

"And you invented it?" Sarah Jane asked, leaning forwards around Rose so more of her face could be seen.

Harriet grew a sly smile before she responded again. "I developed it, but it was the Mister Copper Foundation."

"This web chat is nice and all," Jack said, rolling eyes in annoyance. "And I really would like to find out how you got back to this universe, Rose. But we really just need a weapon right now to get rid of the Daleks. Martha, you work for UNIT, what are they saying about it? What is that key thing you have?"

"The Osterhagen key," Martha answered in a cold tone.

"That key is not to be used, Doctor Jones," Harriet spoke up, sending off the authority she had when she was Prime Minister. "Not under any circumstances."

"Am I the only one who doesn't know what is going on?" Rose asked, getting a response from Sarah and Jack that they didn't know either. "What is the Osterhagen key? Will it help us find the Doctor? That's who we all _need _right now," Rose continued with a harsh glance at Harriet. "And, no offense, Harriet, but we all know what happened. I was there that day, the Doctor handled it all by himself and you had to take charge and destroy them in cold blood, Harriet. I really don't think you have any right to speak for the Doctor right now!"

Appearing shocked at Rose's words, Harriet began to defend herself. "Rose Tyler, I have lived longer than you and know that the fairy tale image you have of the Doctor can't last forever. Because I understand that one day when the Earth is in danger, the Doctor will fail to appear. He didn't listen to me, but maybe you can."

"I do not have some deluded fantasy about him! The Doctor and I have a _child_ together, I think that gives me more right to say that I know him than you, Harriet Jones," Rose hissed back, thoroughly offended by the older woman. "And I'm going to say that the thing we need to concentrate on right now is finding the Doctor."

Martha sent Rose a shy smile for a moment, surprised at how quickly Rose had come to the Doctor's defense. "I agree with Rose, which is why I've been trying to find him. The Doctor has my phone on the TARDIS, but I haven't been able to get through."

"That's why we need the Subwave," Harriet explained with a sigh, deciding not to bring up anything to Rose again. "To combine forces. All of us together at first. The Doctor's secret."

"I've got it!" Jack announced as he turned around to look at another screen. "We have to boost the signal. That's it. We transmit the telephone number through Torchwood. That was we will be using all the power of the Rift."

"And Mister Smith!" Luke brought up, pushing in next to Rose to join in on the call. "He can get the whole world to call the same number, all at the same time. It has to work, billions of phones all calling the Doctor at once."

"Brilliant," Jack exclaimed as he glanced at the teenager. "Who's the kid?"

"My son," Sarah Jane explained, sending Jack a warning glance as Ianto came up behind Jack to start the signal going."

Jack nodded his head as Ianto talked to Harriet about how the signal will be traced back to her, basically sacrificing herself to save the Earth once and for all. "Speaking of kids, where's yours, Rose?"

Glancing back at the other room for a moment and hearing no sounds, she turned back to Jack. "Clara's just in the other room, I haven't been in this universe long."

"It is what I have to do," Harriet said before they sent the signal. "People are dying on the streets, it is my duty to save them. Enough of words, we have to begin."

"Sending the call," Jack announced at the same time Mister Smith began to call.

As they all worked to send the signal to the Doctor, the air seemed to stand still. The ringing noise ran on and on as the attempt to call the Doctor again. Reaching out to grab Sarah Jane's hand, hoping that this would work. It was the best they could do, literally if this didn't work, nothing would.

Waiting impatiently, Harriet suddenly spoke up, intending to turn off her access now that the Daleks were right outside of her door to kill her. "Captain," she said to Jack, her face a brave mask. "I'm transferring the Subwave Network to Torchwood, it's up to you now. And tell the Doctor," she continued, glancing at Rose for a moment. "He chose his companions well."

As they were all mourning the loss of Harriet Jones, Prime Minister, her section of the screen suddenly flared, revealing the spikey haired Doctor and his red-haired companion. Stifling a gasp, Rose watched in a moment as the Doctor took to realize that they had connected with him.

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place. Tiny little pocket of time. But we found them," the Doctor paused for a moment, noticing something on the console screen. "Ooo, ooo, ooo, what's that? Hold on, hold on. Some sort of Subwave Network."

"Where the hell have you been?" Jack sarcastically hissed at the Doctor, causing the Time Lord's eyes to widen as he looked over at Jack's face in the video. "Doctor, the Daleks are on Earth."

However, something else had taken the Doctor's attention at the moment. "Rose," he whispered, leaning closer to the screen as Rose did the same. "You found a way back to me…"

"Yeah…" Rose whispered, trying hard not to cry that she was finally seeing the Doctor after all this time. She glanced at the redhead next to him, assuming that she was the feisty companion Mickey had told her about. "You just can't get rid of me yet."

A nervous chuckle came from the Doctor at Rose's words. "Quite right to," he said, repeating the words he said on the windswept beach. "Are you okay, Rose? And...and Clara? Is she with you?"

"Safe for now thanks to Sarah Jane," Rose responded, her eyes flitting across the screen for a moment before she continued speaking. "And Clara is in the other room…hopefully asleep by now."

"And she is safe and…happy?" the Doctor asked, completely forgetting everyone else's presence now that he could see Rose with his own eyes for the moment. "Can I…can I see her? I want to see her."

Jack interrupted the Doctor, attempting to be firm even though he was still smiling. "You can see her later, Doctor. Right now we really need your help and we don't have a minute to waste," Jack explained, noticing how Martha had winced a bit and appeared upset when the Doctor and Rose had been talking. "The Daleks are taking people to their spaceship and it isn't just Dalek Caan."

"Yes, I know," the Doctor said, finally looking away from Rose at the other people present in the conversation. "Hello, Sarah Jane, told you it wasn't goodbye last time. Who's that boy?" he asked, continuing before he got an answer. "And Torchwood! They're brilliant…well, they are now anyway," the Doctor said with a huge smile on his face. "All you clever, brilliant people."

"Hello, I'm Donna Noble," Donna announced, pushing the Doctor more off camera for a moment. "Nice to see you again, Martha. And Rose…I can't believe I am actually talking to you!" she happily said, her gaze fixing on the Torchwood team. "Oh, who are you?"

"Captain Jack," the Doctor explained, glancing over and seeing Donna's star struck expression. "Don't. Just don't."

Right after the Doctor said who the flirtatious American was to Donna, the scanner of every single person went gray with static at the same moment.

Rose glanced up in shock at Sarah Jane, repressing the urge to knock on the side of the computer to make it work. "What happened? We lost the signal?"

Before Sarah Jane was able to respond, a voice, an ancient and raspy sound, spoke up through the static with no picture. "Your voice is different, and yet its arrogance is unchanged."

"No," Sarah Jane whispered, her voice clearly terrified as Rose gaped at her in confusion. "But he's dead."

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked, looking at Luke for an explanation. However, the teenager looked just as confused as Rose was at the moment. "What happened with the connection? What happened to the Doctor and everyone else?"

"I'm so sorry," Sarah Jane replied, pulling Luke in for a tight hug. "It isn't fair that this is happening while you are so young."

"But what is happening?" Luke questioned as Sarah Jane released him from the hug. "What can be worse than the Daleks?"

"It's Davros," Sarah Jane explained, her face showing just how terrible whoever Davros was actually is. "I met him before when I traveled with the Doctor…this isn't good…not good at all."

Rose nodded, understanding why Sarah Jane was so scared. Throughout her travels with the Doctor she had met so many evil beings that she couldn't even begin to describe. "What are we going to do?"

"Rose, your dimension cannon, it has had more than enough time to recharge, right?" Sarah Jane asked as she turned to look at Rose. Her face was so full of knowledge it took Rose aback for a moment. And after seeing the Doctor, even if it was just from a computer screen, her heart was aching at how quick their reunion had been. In her fantasies it had always involved them running towards each other like on a silly romance movie, both faces filled with glee. Before either of them knew it, they would be in each other's arms once more. And maybe, if Rose was very lucky, the Doctor would finish the sentence he had begun on Bad Wolf Bay. But it appeared as if fate was not on her side for the moment. If things kept on progressing the way they were before, it was very probable that she would never see the Doctor face to face again.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to leave everyone here to fend to themselves," Rose replied, her voice confident that she wasn't going to change her mind. "And it is going to happen in _every _world eventually."

After a long pause and a glance at Luke, Sarah Jane spoke up again. "That isn't what I mean at all, Rose. You can go and find the Doctor and help him. I'll leave right after in my car and hope to meet you there."

"No," Rose said once again, narrowing her eyes.

"Rose, it is what the Doctor would have wanted me to do," Sarah Jane explained with a sigh. One way or another, she was going to try her hardest to get Rose back to the Doctor's side. "And you won't be abandoning anyone at all. In fact, it would be very helpful to everyone, Rose. It's what you _have_ to do right now."

"I'm _not _leaving Clara," Rose announced, her eyes wide at Sarah Jane. "It isn't safe and I don't want her to be hurt. You understand with Luke, don't you?"

"Clara will be safe, Rose," Sarah Jane explained motioning both Rose and Luke to follow her into the other room. "Luke can watch her for you. And then, once the Doctor figures out how to save the Earth, both of you can come pick her up. It's the best chance we all have, Rose."

Sighing when she realized that Sarah Jane was right she leaned over and picked up Clara, balancing the sleeping baby on her hip as she looked at Luke. "You will make sure she doesn't get hurt?" Rose asked the boy, knowing that she could trust Luke even though she hadn't known him long. "Do you even _know _how to hold her?"

"Of course," Luke replied with a smile. "We had to take care of an electronic baby for school once and I passed with high scores."

Nodding her head, Rose laid Clara back down, kissing her on the forehead as she pulled out her forehead. With a sigh, she realized she had barely thought of Mickey since she arrived back on this universe. He had been jumping for months, and Rose was confident that he would be able to take care of himself. Still, she was nervous as she typed his number into her mobile. Breathing a sigh of relief when she heard Mickey's familiar voice, she spoke up. "Mickey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I ended up at Donna's house," Mickey explained through the mobile. "I'm fine, about to shift myself. How are you? Is Clara okay? Have you found the Doctor yet?"

"No, but we're safe with Sarah Jane," Rose told Mickey, sighing with relief that her friend was safe as well. "I'm going to do a shift as well and lock onto the TARDIS."

"Good luck, Rose," Mickey responded, clearly rushing her to hang up so that he could phase himself. "Don't worry, the Doctor will fix it all or he'll have to have a word with Mickey Smith."

"Thank you," Rose sighed, hoping that nothing would hurt Mickey. "Be safe, okay? Bye, see you soon."

Once she had finished her call with Mickey, she pulled out her dimension jumper with a sigh, pulling out her phone again and calling Torchwood's familiar number. "Control, I need another shift," Rose explained, hoping they understood the urgency of her voice. "Lock me onto the TARDIS, now. Right, I'm going to find him. And you better make sure Clara stays safe, I'm trusting you. Still, wish me luck."

"Good luck," Luke called out, a nervous smile on his face as she waited for the shift to take place.

"Good luck, sweetheart," Sarah Jane said as well, her expression showing Rose just how likely it was that they would all die tonight.

Still, she didn't have long to think about what that meant before she dissolved into a bright light just as she had before. Squeezing her eyes shut tight, Rose hoped that she would be able to see her daughter again.

However, it didn't take as long as she thought it would before she felt her feet on solid ground again. Looking around at her surroundings, Rose figured that the TARDIS just hadn't arrived yet. She was on a seemingly abandoned street, clearly devoid of people because of the Daleks. Walking farther down the street, Rose wondered how long she had to wait when she heard the most beautiful sound her ears had ever heard.

Rose was sure she was barely breathing when she saw the TARDIS materialize a few feet in front of her, just like it had in all her dreams. She couldn't believe this was actually happening, that she was about to see the Doctor again and she was going to fight like hell to not lose him again.

However, she saw something out of the corner of her eye and her mind froze. There it was, straight from her nightmares. A Dalek was just across the street and she knew what was going to happen next. Rose cursed herself for not bringing a gun, rationalizing her decision by how much the Doctor hated them.

"Doctor!" Rose screamed as she turned and banged on the TARDIS door, keeping one eye on the steadily approaching Dalek. "Doctor! Please! DOCTOR!" Rose cried out, sure she only had seconds left to be alive. She had failed. After everything they had gone through, this was how it was going to end?

**Hmm...different from the show! But is that good or bad?! Tell me what you think! REVIEW!**

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	8. The Fake Prophecy

**FIRST time I've had free time since starting college...ahhh! And classes start tomorrow!**

**Anyway, please read and hopefully enjoy! Hope you are okay with the changes I have made with what happens in this episode!**

**Thanks for all my lovely readers and please, please, please REVIEW and I will love you forever!**

**P.S. Please review...**

The Fake Prophecy

Just as Rose heard the Dalek start to speak, probably to warn her of her imminent death, she slammed her eyes shut, not able to watch her final few moments. She was sure she heard the TARDIS door open and the Doctor's voice, but she assumed it was just in her mind. Right before she was going to open her eyes she felt familiar hands grab onto her and push her backwards, not even having time to scream before she felt the metal grating of the console room underneath her. As she registered this fact, her head fell hard against the hard floor, bouncing two times before everything went dark.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had pushed Rose rather hard back towards the safety of the TARDIS to see a Dalek mere feet from him. Hearing Donna squealing about Rose and the Dalek, he attempted to block her out, wondering if he could move fast enough before the Dalek attacked.

"Doctor!" the Dalek shrieked, its wire whisk hand moving towards him, thankfully forgetting Rose.

"Hello," the Doctor calmly said to the Dalek, his eyebrows raising as he practically dared the Dalek to shoot him. Even while he was facing death the Doctor couldn't help but taunt the bane of his existence. "Did you miss me?"

Right as the Dalek was preparing to kill the Doctor a gun ray from the side of the TARDIS shot out and automatically destroyed the Dalek, leaving an empty shell. They were safe, no one had died. Against all odds, something had gone as planned.

"Get into the TARDIS!" Captain Jack ordered, coming out from behind the TARDIS with a huge gun in his arms, obviously having just used his Vortex Manipulator to find the Doctor.

"Jack?" the Doctor asked, standing still as Jack ran towards him. It was then that he remembered the fact that Rose was only inches away from him and spun around to see if she was okay.

"Doctor, Rose just passed out," Donna announced as she knelt down next to the unconscious blonde. She glanced up at the Doctor, a knowing smile filling her lips as he stood absolutely still, a look of shock frozen on his face.

"Rose," the Doctor whispered, falling onto his knees next to Rose's limp form. Breathing a sigh of relief that she was just unconscious, the Doctor leaned forwards, his lips a hairbreadth's away from Rose's lips as he just stared at her.

By then Jack had lumbered onto the TARDIS, nearly knocking Donna over in the process. Not that she minded in the slightest, though… "Doctor, we really should get that door closed," Jack said, trying to get the frozen Time Lord to listen to him.

"Yeah," the Doctor mumbled as he swiftly stood up, picking up Rose bridal style as he did so. "Thank you, Jack," he quickly added as Jack quickly closed the door, only to be immediately in front of Donna.

As Donna tried to get as close to Jack as possible, she kept one eye on the Doctor and Rose. If there was one thing she longed to see, it was both the Doctor's and Rose's face when they were finally reunited. Still, she couldn't miss an opportunity to flirt with someone as attractive as Captain Jack Harkness.

Gently placing Rose onto the jump seat, the Doctor perched on the edge, repeatedly scanning Rose with his sonic screwdriver to make sure he didn't hurt her. Once that was done he knew he was just going to have to wait, and for the moment he didn't care about anything else.

"Humph," Rose groaned, finally coming to with a pounding in the back of her head. Opening her eyes she saw the Doctor's face right in front of her and she automatically smiled, his face mirroring hers as well.

Before either of them were able to speak again the TARDIS lights flickered out, the entire ship losing all of its power. "They've got us," the Doctor announced, reluctantly leaving Rose's side and running around the controls. "Power's gone. Some kind of chronon loop."

"There's a massive Dalek ship at the centre of the planets. They're calling it the Crucible," Jack announced, managing to pull away from Donna and sit on the jump seat next to Rose, throwing his arm around her shoulders with a wide smile. "Guess that's our destination. "

Donna glanced at Rose before continuing on with what she was thinking. "You said these planets were like an engine. But what for?"

"Rose, you were trapped in Pete's world," the Doctor said, spinning around as he walked over behind the jump seat and placed a comforting hand on her back. "Is time running ahead of this universe?"

"No, it's behind, actually," Rose responded, comforted by the Doctor's light touch. "All that has happened for us is the stars going out…it was so dark at night."

"And you…" the Doctor whispered, resting his chin on the top of her head as he spoke. "You found a way back to me? So I could help?"

Rose couldn't help but let out a quiet giggle, turning around so that she was kneeling on the jump seat and threw her arms around the Doctor. "Of course, we needed you. And the dimensions were starting to collapse, that's when the cannon started working. It was in all worlds, all of reality was crumbling…even the Void was dead."

"And Clara?" the Doctor asked as she released him from the hug. "Clara came with you? I can hold her?" he questioned again.

"Well, yeah," Rose answered, sending a toothy smile at the Doctor. Just as she spoke she felt a jolting of the TARDIS, glancing up to see Jack and Donna stabilizing themselves as well. "We're here, aren't we?"

Nodding his head, the Doctor gave Rose her answer as he moved from his position to look at the data. "We'll have to go out. Because if we don't, they'll get it."

"Doctor, you always said we would be safe in here," Rose countered as her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't like this, she was absolutely terrified. Even after all that had happened for them to get back, she would be forced to face the Dalek's again. And she didn't want to die, not now. "You _promised _nothing could get through those doors."

Jack ran over to the controls, looking over the Doctor's shoulder at something. "You've got extrapolator settings," Jack reminded the Doctor, hoping for a way out of this.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," the Doctor explained, a broken look on his face when he looked at his friends. "I was wrong, the last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids, and mad. But this is a fully-fledged Dalek Empire, at the height of its power. Experts at fighting with a TARDIS, they can do anything. Right now, that wooden door is just wood."

"Can't you use that dimension jump, Rose?" Jack questioned as he came up behind Rose with a hopeful expression.

"It needs to charge," Rose explained with a sigh. "Needs another twenty minutes at least…and I'm not leaving."

"Rose, you need to get back to Clara," the Doctor replied with a sharp glance her direction. "Jack, does your teleport work?"

Jack sighed, glancing down at his watch for a moment. "Went down when the power went out."

"Right then," the Doctor said, looking at each of his companions for a moment. "We all go together, Donna?" he continued, looking over at Donna as she spaced out for a moment. "Donna? I'm sorry, this is what we have to do."

"I know…" Donna sadly replied. "Daleks…"

"It's been good, though, hasn't it? All of us. All of it," the Doctor spoke, looking mournful for a moment as he glanced at Rose. "Everything we did together, Rose, all we had. It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant," he said, glancing over at Donna next with a sad smile. "And you were brilliant," he continued, looking at Jack next. "Even you were brilliant. Blimey…"

With those final words, the Doctor pushed the door open, stepping out to see countless Daleks waiting outside of the TARDIS. Donna and Jack following right behind him, Rose stood still for a moment, taking in the final images of the TARDIS she had so sorely missed.

"Rose, please come out here with me," the Doctor called out from outside of the TARDIS just as Rose began making her way out back to him.

However, just before she reached the ramp towards the door something happened. The police box's doors slammed shut practically in her face, shocking her for a moment. Reaching out to push the doors open, she found them stuck. "Doctor? Open the door please, I don't want to be in here alone."

"It won't open?" the Doctor asked, rushing over towards the TARDIS and attempting to open the doors from the outside. Even with the help of his sonic the door wouldn't budge. "Rose, what's happening?" he questioned, only to get a quiet plea to help before he turned towards the Dalek, his eyes full of fury. "Stop it! Let her go! Please, just open the door and let her come out to me. Please, just _don't _hurt her!"

"This is Time Lord treachery!" the Dalek announced in its angry voice.

"Me?" the Doctor gaped, banging on the door once more. "I didn't do it…I would _never _hurt her. The door just closed down on its own."

"Doctor!" Rose screamed as loud as she could, banging on the unyielding door. "I'm scared, Doctor. Please…just get me out of here! Doctor!"

"Nevertheless, the TARDIS is a weapon and it will be destroyed!" the Dalek explained just as it had before. At its words a trapdoor opened under the TARDIS, causing the ship to drop through the empty chasm.

Watching in horror as the TARDIS fell from view the Doctor turned towards the Dalek looking absolutely murderous. "What are you doing?" he screeched. "Please! Just, bring it back! Just let Rose off! Please, don't hurt her! Where's it going? What the hell have you done?"

"The Crucible has a heart of Z-neutrino energy. The TARDIS will be deposited into the core," the Dalek said, its voice uncaring and cold as usual.

"You can't!" the Doctor yelled, tearing at his hair. "You've even taken the defenses down. Please, it'll be torn apart! And you'll kill Rose. She didn't do _anything!_ Please, just let her go, please! Let her live and I'll help you, I swear."

"Let her go!" Donna agreed with the Doctor. "Rose is in there, just let her out safely."

"The female and the TARDIS will perish together. Observe," the Dalek said, an image of the TARDIS dying surrounded by molten lava, catching on fire as well. Rose and the TARDIS were both about to die. "The last child of Gallifrey is powerless!"

The Doctor fell down on his knees in front of the Dalek, his hearts breaking. "Please! I'm begging you. I'll do anything!" the Doctor yelled, knowing his efforts were useless. "Put me in her place instead. Please, she can't die yet! She just _can't. _I can't do this to her, can't break my promise again! Please, she deserves better than this. You can do anything to me, I don't care! Beat me through all my regenerations, just get her out of there!"

"You are connected to the TARDIS. Now feel it die!" the Dalek screeched, gleeful in its plan.

A different Dalek began to talk now. "Total TARDIS destruction in ten rels. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

Each word the Doctor's face fell, hardly believing this was actually happening. Rose had just gotten back to him and now she was gone. He had failed, he wasn't strong enough to save her.

"The TARDIS has been destroyed," the Dalek announced. "Now tell me, Doctor. What do you feel? Anger? Sorrow? Despair?"

"Yeah," the Doctor whispered, his voice breaking as his face fell into his hands. He felt the tears run down his cheeks, but he didn't even care. He hadn't just failed Rose, he had failed their daughter. Now she wouldn't have her mother and if the Dalek's plan worked, Clara wouldn't even get to meet her father.

"Then if emotions are so important, surely we have enhanced you?" the Dalek laughed, being as sarcastic as a Dalek can be.

Seeing the Doctor in so much agony, Jack jumped forwards at the Dalek's. "Yeah? Feel this!" he yelled, pulling out a small gun and shooting at a Dalek.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek easily replies, automatically zapping Jack with its laser as he fell to the ground limp and dead. For now, at least.

"Jack!" Donna shrieked, kneeling next to Jack as the Doctor glanced over at Jack's limp body. "Oh, he's dead!"

Groaning as he pushed himself to his feet, the Doctor's face grew scarily determined. The fury of a Time Lord prevalent on every feature of his face. "Donna, come over here. Just leave him be. I know they killed him and I'm sorry, but just come here. They killed Rose, there is nothing else we can do."

…

Not long after that the Doctor and Donna found themselves in Davros's presence, his empty eye sockets turned towards them. "Activate the holding cells," Davros orders as two lights shone down at the Doctor and Donna. "Excellent. Even when powerless, a Time Lord is best contained."

"Still scared of me?" the Doctor asked, his eyes turning manic as he threw himself at Davros as far as the cell would allow him to. "After all you've taken away from me, I am still winning. I still have power and I will _destroy _you."

Ignoring the Doctor's threats, Davros rolled closer to the Doctor before he spoke again. "It is time we talked, Doctor," he continued with a short cackle. "After so very long and after you have lost so much. Yes, let's have a chat when you are at your worst."

"No, no, no, no, no. We're not doing the nostalgia tour," the Doctor responded in a cool voice, his anger boiling under the surface. "I want, no need, to know what's happening right here, right now. Why are you doing this? The Supreme Dalek said Vault, yeah? As in dungeon, cellar, prison. You're not in charge of the Daleks, are you? They've got you locked away down here in the basement like, what, a servant? Slave? Court jester? Look at you!" the Doctor laughed. "You're even worse than me!"

"We have an arrangement," Davros protested. "It is none of your business, anyway!"

"No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor said, repeating the same word over and over with more anger each time. "No, I've got the word. You're the Dalek's pet!"

"So very full of fire, is he not," Davros said, now trying to get under the Doctor's skin once more. "And to think of your precious Rose…all she went through to find you again. Only to be destroyed within minutes of your pathetic little reunion. How absolutely tragic…to travel through the dimensions to find her love only to lose it all again."

The Doctor was practically hissing as Davros spoke. How dare he taunt him like that? There was nothing that he could say that the Doctor hadn't repeated to himself over and over again. "You are not worthy to mention her!"

"She is mine to do as I please," Davros responded. "In fact, she isn't anyone's now. Because she is _dead_, Doctor. Rose is dead.

Donna couldn't stand to see the Doctor's broken face, so turned towards Davros again, her own anger fuming. Her best friend was breaking, she had to protect him. "Then why did you keep me? Why am I alive?"

"You must be here," Davros explained, his voice pitying to Donna. "It was foretold. Even the Supreme Dalek would not dare to contradict the prophecies of Dalek Caan."

It was then that a Dalek in a broken casing rolled up, the shriveled true creature shifting as it breathed. "So cold and dark. Fire is coming. The endless flames."

Eyes widening in horror at the sight, Donna breathed out in surprise. The thing was hideous and terrible. And it was still alive, that was the worst thing. "What the hell is that thing?"

"You've not met before," the Doctor said, his voice still unstable as he glanced over at Donna. "I'll introduce you. Donna, the last of the Cult of Skaro, Dalek Caan. But it flew into the Time War, unprotected."

"Caan did more than that," Davros spoke up again, confident in his words. "He saw time. Its infinite complexity and majesty, raging through his mind," he continued, gesturing towards Donna. "And he saw you. Both of you. Your timelines merging in on each other, creating something entirely new."

Caan spoke up next, pointing his little tentacle at the cages. "This I have foreseen, in the wild and the wind," he continued, his voice pausing for a moment from the effort. "The Doctor will be here as witness, at the end of everything. The Doctor and his precious Children of Time. And one of them will die. Another one. We already got rid of his favorite, the young blonde. Rose, she was _fantastic_, wasn't she, Doctor?"

"It was you, Caan!" the Doctor yelled, the fire back burning behind his eyes. "You killed Rose! Why did you kill her? Why did you lock her inside of the TARDIS and let them both burn? Tell me! She didn't deserve that and I will get my revenge! Oh, trust me, you did not make a good choice to kill Rose! Now, tell me why!"

"Oh, there it is!" Davros laughed at the Doctor's expression. "We have unlocked it! The anger, the fire, the rage of a Time Lord who butchered millions. There he is, we brought it out! Why so shy? Show your companion. Show her your true self. Just think how Rose would feel if she was still alive! Avenge her death! Dalek Caan has promised me!"

"I have seen," Caan said, talking to Davros now. "At the time of ending, the Doctor's soul will be revealed. It will crumble and show us all he has done!"

The Doctor was silent for a moment, glaring at the floor as he tried to hold up the weight that was struggling to trap him. Everything was breaking, their evil plan was working and they took Rose down with them. The moment when he was positive Rose had been killed by the Dalek when she wasn't fast enough to get through the door. And that was _nothing _compared to what he felt now. At least before, when Rose was trapped in the parallel universe, he had known she was safe and with her family. She didn't have him, but she had Clara. And now she was dead and it was all his fault. "What does that mean?" he managed to choke out.

"We will discover it together!" Davros laughed at the Doctor's expression. "Our final journey together. Because the ending approaches, not just for you, but for all the worlds. The testing begins now! Watch and see what you have done, Doctor!"

"Testing?" the Doctor asked, looking up with interest. He didn't want to care anymore, nothing mattered now that he had killed Rose, but he couldn't help but asking. What are you testing?"

"The Reality bomb."

…

As soon as she felt the ship being dropped to its death, Rose was thrown about the TARDIS console room, hardly believing her terrible luck. Here she was, just minutes after being reunited with the Doctor and she was going to die. And not only would she die, but the Doctor's constant companion, his precious blue ship would as well. Rose let out a squeak as she was catapulted against the jump seat, barely gripping onto the seat to steady herself. Everything was exploding and fires were breaking out everywhere in this oh so familiar room.

"What do I do?" Rose screeched to no one. She was totally unable to think of one thing that would get her out of this predicament. All she hoped was that the Doctor would get out of this terrible situation alive and get back to Clara. Sure Rose wouldn't be there, but Clara would be safe with her father. If worst came to worst, Rose assumed that Jack would be able to get back to Earth since he couldn't die.

Just as tears were beginning to fill Rose's eyes she heard a sound she had been dreaming about for months. The unmistakable sound of the TARDIS materializing, the sound of the universe. And it sounded close, as if it was just a few feet away and not from her memory.

Jerking her head towards the noise, Rose's mouth dropped open as the TARDIS's shape came into true form right in front of her. It looked the same at first, but as she pushed onto her unsteady feet and stumbled towards the blue box, she realized there were slight differences. There was an insignia on the door that hadn't been there before, and it said the Bells of Saint John.

Rose jumped back, narrowly missing a patch of fire, when she heard the distinctive noise of the door opening. She watched, unsure if she should be horrified or relieved, as the door opened the entire way.

"Hello," a man she recognized meeting once in the past wearing a bowtie exclaimed as he hopped out of the TARDIS. "Did you miss me?"

**AHHH! What just happened?! Do you like the changes!?**

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**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	9. The Bow-tie Wearing Visitor

**Anyway, please read and hopefully enjoy! Hope you are okay with the changes I have made with what happens in this episode!**

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**P.S. Please review...**

The Bowtie Wearing Visitor

"Doctor?" Rose gasped out, instinctively knowing it was him. And by the returning grin he gave her, she was positive that she was correct in her assumption. "How are you here?"

"I'm here to save your life, Rose Tyler," the floppy haired man announced, bounding farther out of his own TARDIS. Running up to the controls, the supposed Doctor flipped a few switches and all of the fires receded as the shaking stopped as well. If Rose had to guess, she would say that they were safely in the Time Vortex.

Once that was done, the Doctor rocked on his heels, just looking at Rose for a long moment. "Follow me, Rose," the Doctor suddenly said, motioning for Rose to follow him into the new TARDIS.

"Whoa," Rose whispered when she walked into the police box. It was _so _different from the TARDIS she knew and love. Instead of the comforting coral, there was an orange tint to the whole console room, with a glass floor and many staircases. "You've redecorated…and regenerated."

"What do you think?" the Doctor asked as he spun around in the entrance of his TARDIS, shutting the door behind him.

It took Rose a minute to respond, everything had just happened so fast. She was sure she was about to die and then a few minutes later she found herself in the company of a man she didn't know. Of course she _technically_ knew him, but she had been with a different man than this one was. And it terrified her. "Just different."

"Still not ginger," the Doctor commented as he walked a bit to the wary Rose. It was just like the last time he had regenerated, but even worse. Because she knew her pinstriped Doctor was out there believing that she was dead. "Though, am I rude this time around?"

"I hope so," Rose said, finally cracking a smile at this new man. "So, what just happened?"

The Doctor made a clicking sound with his tongue, sauntering farther into the TARDIS with Rose right behind him. "I'm keeping your timeline intact, Rose. You don't die today."

"But the Doctor…err…you…are still out there facing Davros," Rose commented, absently worrying her bottom lip at all that had and still was happening. "How are you going to save me without disturbing that timeline?"

"He isn't going to see me," the Doctor answered confidently, suddenly stopping right in front of Rose, his eyes growing pained for a moment. Grabbing her by the shoulders, the Doctor leaned forwards and kissed the air in front of both of her cheeks. "Oh, how I've missed you, Rose."

Scrunching her eyebrows as she observed the sad man in front of her, she spoke up again, hoping she would get a real answer this time around. "How is this going to work?" Rose asked the new Doctor as he ran around the unfamiliar controls.

"I am going to send the old TARDIS back to where everyone else is with mine still inside of it. Then, before anyone sees me I am going to go with my TARDIS back to where I belong," the Doctor responded as he flipped a switch and motioned for her to follow him out of the doors.

"Wait a moment," Rose whispered as she motioned for him to come closer to her. "I can never tell _my_ Doctor about this?"

"No, he doesn't know about our meeting," the Doctor said, clearly confused as Rose walked closer to him, her hand fumbling as if to grab his tie for a moment before she realized he was wearing a bowtie. Grabbing his tweed-covered shoulder with a shrug, Rose pulled him farther into the unfamiliar TARDIS, and shut the doors behind him. "Wait, what are you doing?"

Rose let out a light and breathy laugh as his behavior. He was so different from _her _Doctor. But he was still him and she wasn't going to let him fly away in his time machine that quickly "We are in a _time machine_, Doctor," she whispered. His eyes widened at her words, he knew exactly what she meant when she said that. It had become sort of a loaded euphemism between the two of them in the too short of time they were together. Even after all this time, he still managed to blush when he was around her. "And you are the same Doctor, just with a different face. Hmm…and body."

"Rose!" the Doctor squeaked out as she came closer to him and laid a hand on his cheek. "Are you being serious right now?"

"Yes…" she whispered. "I know I will never get to see this _you_ again. I understand that I will be long gone by then and I am sorry for that. I hope we were happy together, that we had many years."

"We did, Rose," the Doctor said. "It was beautiful, every moment with you. You have no idea how much I _miss_ you. After all this time, I will always love you, my beautiful Rose."

"What happened?" Rose asked, moving even closer to him as she spoke. "How did you lose me?"

The Doctor let out a loud sigh before he responded, clearly not wanting to talk about the details. "Life happened, my darling. And it's okay, I have accepted it now. But it was worth it, Rose. You were always worth it, I would still do anything for you."

"Do you still have our room, Doctor?" Rose asked in a hoarse whisper. She was trying not to cry, she wanted to remember this moment and knew the Doctor was cherishing it as well. She had so much time left with him, so many years. But this would be the last time he would ever see her again and her heart was breaking for the Doctor beyond her future.

The Doctor gulped loudly before he spoke again. "Yes…but I don't want to go in there," the Doctor responded as he grabbed ahold of her soft hand and stroked it for a moment. "I have a new room, Rose. I want memories of you in there."

Rose smiled brightly at that, apparently the Doctor wanted this as much as she did. He grinned as he grabbed ahold of her hand, the grip still shockingly familiar, and pulled her behind him. After a short time they arrived outside of a blue door. He checked to make sure she was okay before he pushed the door open and led her inside.

"It is so different…" Rose whispered. It surprised her how messy the room was, apparently this Doctor would inherit that from her. The ceiling was no longer the suns of Gallifrey, it was Earth instead. The bed was bright red this time and the furniture was light, but it felt familiar to Rose in a strange way.

The moment the Doctor closed the door, Rose slowly moved towards him and stood on her tiptoes and lightly kissed his lips. She felt his hesitation for a few minutes before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. It was so new, yet so familiar, to kiss him like this.

As her hand reached up and undid his bowtie and began to push the hideous tweed jacket from his shoulders, Rose was surprised when her knees hit the bed and he gently lowered her onto the covers. He must have noticed her hesitation because his lips stopped on her neck. "What's wrong, Rose?"

"Nothing," Rose muttered as she sat up and pulled her own shirt off in seconds. "I just want this to be perfect for you."

"It will be," the Doctor whispered as his eyes raked up and down her form in a familiar way. "It is you, Rose Marion Tyler. It always will be perfect now that you are here with me."

At those words, Rose latched her lips on his again and felt his hands slide down to her waist. This fumbling motion was awkward and hesitant, but it was so precious and beautiful. Every moment with him was and she tried not to pay attention to the way his eyes looked so very old and sad.

…

"Doctor, what is he talking about?" Donna asked after Davros's ominous comment about 'the reality bomb'

"Electrical energy, Miss Noble," Davros laughed, his evil voice emanating across the space. "Every atom in existence is bound by an electrical field. The Reality bomb cancels it out. Structure falls apart. That test was focused on the prisoners alone. Full transmission will dissolve every form of matter."

"That's why the stars are going out," Donna murmured, surprised at how everything was happening right now.

The Doctor glanced up again, glancing between Donna and Davros. "The twenty seven planets. They become one vast transmitter, blasting that wavelength."

"Across the entire universe. Never stopping, never faltering, never fading," Davros explained, a cruel smile on his horrendous lips. "People and planets and stars will become dust, and the dust will become atoms, and the atoms will become nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the Rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation. This is my ultimate victory, Doctor! The destruction of reality itself!"

It was then that a Dalek came over, announcing that it was time. "Prepare for universal detonation. The fleet will gather at the Crucible. All Daleks will return to shelter from the cataclysm. We will become the only life forms in existence!"

However, before the reality bomb was detonated, a blurry image of Martha Jones appeared on a large screen, her eyes large and terrified. "This message is for the Dalek Crucible. Repeat. Can you hear me?"

"Put me through," the Doctor ordered, knowing that something terrible was happening if Martha was on that screen about to bargain with the Daleks.

"It begins As Dalek Caan foretold," Davros laughed, his insane laughter filling their ears for a moment.

Caan interrupted what Davros was about to say next, his unstable voice beginning as his tentacle like hand waved about. "The Children of Time will gather, and one of them shall surely die. And it shall break your heart, Doctor."

"Stop saying that! It is already done!" the Doctor demanded, his voice cracking at the thought that Rose was the one to die and he had failed her. "Put me through!"

"Doctor! I'm sorry, I had to," Martha on the screen announced, her voice falling when she saw the Doctor and Donna both contained in the tunnel of light.

"Oh, but the Doctor is powerless," Davros explained, enjoying the wince Martha made. "My prisoner, as you can surely see. I have demolished him once and for all. State your intent, human child."

"I've got the Osterhagen Key. Leave this planet and its people alone," Martha explained, holding up a rather unintimidating computer chip. Her voice was shaking though, so it was obvious how bad this simple device was. "Or I'll use it. I swear I will."

After a moment of silence, Donna spoke up, confusion clear on her face. "Osterhanger?" Donna tried, her face scrunching as she tried to pronounce the word. "Ostenhagen? Oh, Osterhagen!"

Shooting Donna a tense look at wasting precious time figuring out how to work her tongue, he turned towards the screen. "Osterhagen what? What's an Osterhagen Key?"

"There's a chain of twenty five nuclear warheads placed in strategic points beneath the Earth's crust," Martha explained as she met the Doctor's angry eyes. He already knew what she was planning to do, and she was sure he would not be okay with it. "If I use the key, they detonate and the Earth gets ripped apart."

"What!? Who would ever invent that?" the Doctor asked, his face blank as he thought of what a surprise this all was. He knew what it was like to destroy a planet and he didn't want Martha to go through that. "Martha, are you insane?"

"The Osterhagen Key is to be used if the suffering of the human race is so great, so without hope, that this becomes the final option," Martha explained, her voice calculated and strong once more.

"That's never an option!" the Doctor shouted. "You can't do this, Martha! I forbid it!"

"You can't forbid me to do anything, Doctor!" Martha counted back, her voice shaking again as she met his eyes. "I'm not just doing it to kill the Earth, Doctor. I assume the Daleks need all of these twenty seven planets for their plan to work. It'll fail if it becomes twenty six and we will save all the universes, Doctor. The cost is great, but it'll be worth it in the end," she paused, her eyes roving around the room for a moment before she spoke again, her voice soft this time. "Where is Rose?"

There was silence as Donna watched the Doctor's expression. She was just about to respond for him when the Doctor opened his own mouth. "She's gone, Martha. Rose is dead and it is all my fault."

Martha's expression fell as well, her eyes filling with pity for the Doctor. "Doctor…I'm so sorry."

Just as Martha was going to say another condolence, a Dalek announced that another transmission was on its way towards them. Just as that same time, Captain Jack flanked by Mickey and Sarah Jane appeared on the screen. "Captain Jack Harkness, calling all Dalek boys and girls," he continued with a broad smile at the Doctor and Donna. "Don't come after me, or I'll set this thing off."

"Mickey…" Donna gasped, only to get a knowing smile from the boy. "And Sarah Jane are there too. Wait a second…Jack, what do you mean?"

"I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe," Jack explained in a harsh voice, gesturing towards the necklace type item in his hand. "I break this shell, the entire Crucible goes up in smoke."

"How can you do that, Jack? Rose wouldn't have let you…" the Doctor added as an afterthought, his expression automatically changing. "Where did you get a Warp Star?"

"I gave it to him," Sarah Jane said, appearing confident in her decision. "We have to do it, Doctor. I'm sorry about whatever has happened up there, but we saw what happened to the prisoners when they activated the reality bomb."

Davros cocked his head, suddenly noticing the older woman on the screen. "Impossible. I know that face…all these years have gone by."

"It's been a while, hasn't it? Sarah Jane Smith. Don't you remember?" Sarah Jane mocked, clearly loving having the upper hand for a moment. "I was there when you were created on Skaro, burned into your memory. But since then I've learned how to fight. So this is my bargain: you let the Doctor and Donna go, or I open this Warp Star."

"Now that's what I call a ransom!" Donna announced, holding back the idea to pump her fist at the turn of events. "Doctor? Isn't it good?"

Following Caan's declaration that the Doctor's soul was about to be revealed, Davros spoke up again. "You say you abhor violence, never even carrying a gun," Davros said, continuing to speak as he watched the Doctor's face. "The truth is much harsher, Doctor. You take ordinary people and turn them into weapons. Your precious Children of Time, transformed into murderers," Davros explained, appearing to understand what the Doctor was thinking. "Even your favorite, your _Rose_ was a part of your schemes. I made the Daleks, Doctor. And you made this. Now I ask you this, which one is worse?"

"They are helping me," the Doctor whispered, his voice shaking at Davros's words. "They are not pawns I like to play with!"

"Already I have seen them sacrifice today, for their beloved Doctor," Davros taunted, his voice rising in intensity with each word. "The Earth girl that you promised forever to, you broke that promise. She fell into flames and _burned_. And even the woman who sacrificed herself opening the Subwave Network. Harriet Jones, she gave her life for you," Davros continued as the Doctor's face fell. "Remember, how many have died in your name? How many?" Davros asked, ignoring the Doctor's pleas to stop. "The Doctor. The man who keeps running, never looking back because he dare not, out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor. I have shown you yourself. Are you proud?"

After that everything happened so fast, and before much could happened a teleport managed to snatch up all of the individuals on the screens and they all appeared in the same room as the Doctor and Donna.

"Don't move," Donna said, knowing that the Doctor wasn't going to be talking anytime soon. "All of you! Stay completely still!"

"The final prophecy is in place. The Doctor and his children, all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek, the time has come. Now, detonate the Reality bomb!" Davros ordered, pleased that his plan was working so perfectly right now.

Just then the Doctor spoke up again, lost now that everything was failing. "You can't, Davros! Just listen to me! Just stop!"

Davros began to laugh, saying nothing could stop him when time seemed to stand still. An unmistakable noise had sounded throughout the room. All glancing up as the TARDIS began to materialize right in front of their eyes, the Doctor spoke up first. "What? But…that's impossible!"

…

"I think it is time to get you back," the Doctor said as Rose's eyes began to slide closed. He never wanted to move again. He wanted to take her away with him in the TARDIS and change the past, he would do anything to be able to keep her. But he _knew _he couldn't do that. All of the precious memories this Rose had yet to make had to be made, all of the years passed by. It was all over for him now, except for this precious moment. She was nestled up against his side and she was still so soft and familiar. So perfect, she was Rose.

"I don't want to leave you," Rose whispered as she kissed him one more time. It had broken her heart, how the Doctor had cried afterwards. She had wanted to stay strong for him, but hearing him make such a broken noise she had cracked and cried along with him. "This you, I don't want you to be alone, Doctor."

"Rose, you have so much more," the Doctor responded as he pulled her closer to him, wishing he didn't have to do this. "So many memories left to give me."

"Is this it?" Rose asked as she swallowed back the lump in her throat. She didn't want to move, but she knew that the Doctor was right. She had to move on so that his future could happen the same way and it was _terrible_. She didn't want to do this, didn't want to face the fact that this Doctor existed long after she was gone. The reality that he had moved on and was such a stranger to her, yet she still knew and _loved _this him. That he had probably had many other people in the TARDIS with him, perhaps even fallen in love with someone else. But what made it bittersweet was that, even if she could tell he never mentioned her and tried to stuff her away into his memories, he was still very much in love with her as well, even after all this time had passed for him. "Is this the last time I am going to see _this _you again?"

"Well…yes, I suppose it is," the Doctor answered, reluctantly scooting away from her and eying his clothes scattered across the floor. "First of all, we should both get dressed and presentable."

After they had both gotten dressed and moved into the strange and mechanical console room, Rose watched him run around the controls, a maniac just like before. A question bubbled from her lips that she didn't realize she had wanted to ask. "So, everything is linear from now on?"

The Doctor smiled at her, bu_t _his eyes still looked so terribly sad. "For _you _it is. But not for me. It never will be that simple for me. Because you see, Rose Tyler, my pinstriped self already said goodbye to you…in your personal past."

"Oh," Rose whispered, finally understanding what she had been missing. She remembered, she really did. On New Year's Eve of 2005, not long before she met the Doctor, she saw a man in the shadows. She didn't realize who he was or else she would have never let him go. She would recognize that voice anywhere, even in her faded memories. He had told her she was going to have a really great year and she hadn't realized how true those words had been. But that wasn't the most disturbing part, he had been sick and she had just passed him off as drunk. "He was…he was dying, wasn't he?"

"You were always so clever," the Doctor exclaimed, stepping forwards and stroking her cheek. "But yes, you were his last stop. You see, in a way, despite a few Ood technicalities, your face was the first and last face that _your_ Doctor saw."

"_My _Doctor?" Rose asked, actually letting out a giggle at the absurdity of the whole situation.

The Doctor's face turned deathly serious before he spoke again. "Yes, when I was him…it sure is odd to speak of myself in first person!" he seemed to be going on a ramble so Rose just shot him a look, hoping he would finish his explanation. "Why do you think I chose to be _pretty_?"

"What?" Rose said, hoping her jaw wasn't hanging open. "He chose the way he looked for _me_?"

"Well, not intentionally," the Doctor explained in a matter of fact way that never failed to make Rose smile. "But almost every thought was consumed by _you_, Rose Tyler. You had just absorbed the Time Vortex to save his life, how could he think of anything else?" the Doctor continued without even glancing up at her. "Rose, he was always yours. And you were _always _his. That is just a fact, an inevitable reality that I have already lived through."

Rose felt heat rush to her face and almost laughed at the irony of how pink and yellow she was. She had to change the topic or else she knew she was going to cry and she had wanted to stay strong now, for him just as much as for herself. "How did you know to come here?"

"The last time I saw you," the Doctor began, looking down to gauge Rose's reaction. "The future you, I mean, you told me the right times to go back and see you again. You were very adamant that I don't try to change the timelines because you loved them as they were."

"You already saw me when I was with John Smith, didn't you?" Rose asked, knowing her words were true when his pained eyes met hers. "That is why you were so upset, you knew you were only going to see me one last time," she was going to say more, but knew their time was limited. "Where are you in your time stream?"

"I just lost some friends of mine," the Doctor whispered, turning his head away so she couldn't see his pained expression. "Amy and Rory. They were wonderful, Rose. You would've loved to have met them."

"You always take the best," Rose muttered to herself as she tried to imagine adventures with _this _Doctor piloting the TARDIS. "What about Clara?"

"Spoilers," he said, his face twisting painfully at the expression. It was as if he thought it was forbidden of him to say that simple word. "This is the one thing I'm not going to tell you at all…you have to discover it on your own. Now, Rose Tyler, it is time for you to go."

Rose's face crumpled for a moment before she threw her arms around the Doctor, wishing she never had to let go of him again. "I love you, Doctor. I'm sorry I can't stay with you."

"It is okay," the Doctor answered as he pulled away from the hug, leading her towards the door. "We have so much more left, Rose. Until then…it was so nice to see you again, Rose. And worth it, I will never regret this. Please, if you don't leave right now I won't ever _let _you out of my sight again."

"Goodbye," Rose whispered, leaning forwards and kissing his cheek. "I'll miss this you, too."

Just as Rose turned away with the Doctor right behind her following her into the familiar console room, surprised by how strong she was being at the moment, she heard the Doctor speak again. "Bring the hand with you, Rose," he said, pointing at the severed hand on the floor. "Give it to good ol' Donna Noble with my love."

With those last words, the Doctor ran around the controls just as he had in pinstripes, only minutes later landing rather smoothly. As Rose lifted up the hand, she glanced up at the bow-tied man who was sending her a sad smile.

"Don't forget I love you," the Doctor said, turning on his heels and running into his own TARDIS, dematerializing it in moments.

Forcing herself to look away from the empty space, Rose hefted back her shoulders and pushed open the doors of the TARDIS, not prepared for what she saw.

"Brilliant!" Jack announced as Rose ran out of the TARDIS alone, her eyes searching for Donna to give her the hand.

Apparently Donna had the same idea as her because she rushed towards Rose, her hands outreached. Acting on a whim, Rose threw the hand in a jar towards Donna, breathing a sigh of relief when the redhead easily caught the item. However, that breath almost immediately left her when Davros pointed his finger and zaps both Rose and Donna at the same time.

"I was wrong about your warriors, Doctor. They are pathetic," Davros laughed at the two women sprawled on the floor. The hand had broken out of the jar and was slowly but surely disintegrating into nothing. Donna's expression was blank, her eyes on the now empty container. "Stand witness, Time Lord. Stand witness, humans. Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and. Oh. The end of the universe has come."

The Doctor ran towards Rose as she groaned and sat up, bruised but very much alive. "Rose…you are alive," he whispered, only a few footsteps away from the blonde before everyone noticed that Donna had gotten up and was standing at the controls.

"Mmm, closing all Z-neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop. That button there," Donna said confidently, pressing a button as if she knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Donna," the Doctor exclaimed as Rose stumbled to her feet, only to be reinforced by Jack as he ran towards her. "How? You can't even change a plug."

"Do you want to bet, Time Boy?" Donna sarcastically asked, her head cocking as if to tease him. At the same time Davros screamed in frustration and attempted to zap her as he had before, only to end up hurting himself instead. "Oh, bio-electric dampening field with a retrograde field arc inversion."

Following Davros's orders, the Daleks turned towards Donna with the intent to kill. "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

At the same time Donna began to hit the levers in a precise fashion, causing the Dalek functions to stop functioning. Wiping away fake sweat from her forehead, Donna smiled. "Phwor. Macro transmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix."

"How did you work that out? You're…" the Doctor said, not able to finish his sentence as he observed Donna's sudden transformation into brilliance.

"Part human. Part Time Lord. Oh, yes," she continued, smiling at the shocked look on the Doctor's face. A biological metacrisis, a whole new species. Half Doctor, half Donna."

"The Doctor Donna. Just like the Ood said, remember?" he whispered, turning to look back at Rose with a huge grin on his face. "They saw it coming! The Doctor Donna."

"Holding cells deactivated. And seal the Vault," Donna announced with a confident smirk at her skills on the complex control system. "Well, don't just stand there, you skinny boy in a suit. Get to work now!"

"Stop them!" Davros ordered, enraged at the fact that his plan hadn't been as easy as he had imagined. Dalek Caan had not expected anything to go wrong, or at least not told Davros of it. "Get them away from the controls!"

As the Daleks approached Donna again, she went with another approach, pressing more buttons. "And spin," she said with a tilt of the head as the Daleks begin to spin around, completely in her control. Ignoring their pleas for help, she smirked and spoke again as she hit another switch. "And the other way," she said, looking at the Doctor as if he had asked her what she had done. "Trip switch circuit-breaker in the psychokinetic threshold manipulator."

Mickey spoke up again, smirking at the Doctor's aghast expression in front of his companion. "Why didn't you think of that, Boss?"

"Because you are just a Time Lord, you dumbo, lacking that little bit of human," Donna explained, sharing a knowing glance with Rose. "That gut instinct that comes hand in hand with Planet Earth. I can think of ideas you couldn't dream of in a million years. Ah, the universe has been waiting for me," she announced, bending over the controls once again. "Now, let's send that trip switch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you, best temp in Chiswick? Hundred words per minute."

"She's right," Martha agreed with a nervous chuckle and a glance at Mickey at her side. "Never does have that human part perfectly down."

"Come on then, Alien Boy. We've got twenty seven planets to send home," Donna ordered to the Doctor, motioning for him to come and help her finish her job of saving all worlds. "Activate magnetron."

As the rest of the group manhandles the Daleks in order to give the Doctor and Donna time to work, they both pull out pairs of rods as the planets disappear one by one.

"We need more power!" the Doctor said, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Is anyone going to tell us what's going on?" Rose asked, hesitantly moving towards the Doctor she knew so well.

"His spare hand, it still had Time Lord cells. I held the hand as Davros sparked me and kicked the connection right into my head!" Donna explained as she spun towards Rose with a huge smile on her face. "Part human, part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind," she said, pointing towards her beaming face.

Jack looked sheepish for a moment before he spoke up again. "It's a pity there didn't end up a whole new clone of the Doctor. Then there would be two pinstriped Time Lord's…" he continued with a wink at Rose. "Let's just say, I would kill to be Rose if that happened…"

Sending Jack a harsh glare as his face flushed red for a moment, he turned towards Donna again. "You're so unique the timelines were converging on you. Human being with a Time Lord brain," he continued when he overheard Davros asking why Caan did not foresee this atrocity. Oh, I think he did know it was going to happen. Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages, getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time."

Of course chaos began again as the Daleks turned to attack the humans and the Doctor, only to be stopped by Jack and his giant gun. After that, it seemed as if everything was going as planned.

"Oh, we've lost the magnetron," he announced, pausing for a moment as he realized something. "And there's only one planet left. Oh, guess which one. But we can use the TARDIS."

Running back to the TARDIS, he motioned for everyone to follow them. Surprisingly, they all did, but the doors were still wide open. Rose watched as the Doctor ran around the controls of the TARDIS surrounded by friends and almost started crying right then and there by the fact that the bow-tied Doctor was all alone.

However, not long after that the sound of explosions reached everyone's ears inside of the TARDIS as the Doctor flew out the doors to see what had happened.

"What?" the Doctor screeched as Donna announced that someone had activated the sequence to destroy all of the Daleks instead, the entire Crucible beginning to demolish in on itself. "Who did this?"

Rose, who had heard the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing, poked her head out of the TARDIS after the Doctor spoke. She had more than a hunch about who had saved them. "Oh, just an old friend," she whispered as a sad smile filled her face.

**AHHH! What just happened?! Do you like the changes!?**

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	10. The Drive Home

**Anyway, please read and hopefully enjoy! Hope you are okay with the changes I have made with what happens in this episode!**

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**P.S. Please review...**

The Drive Home

The Doctor finally hit down a last lever, spinning around with a smile on his face. "There it goes, pulling the Earth back to its orbit. It'll take about an hour though because the TARDIS is lugging so much."

"Fine by me," Rose whispered. She was still huddled on the jump seat. After she spoke, she buried her face against her knees, trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

Martha, feeling an urge to talk to this girl she had been so jealous of, went over to sit next to her. It was odd, she always thought that everything was different when Rose traveled with the Doctor. That he didn't close himself off and barely ever say anything of substance when he was around her. But it was looking like she had thought wrong. Because here sat Rose, feet from the Doctor, and she had barely seen them say two words to each other. But really bothered Martha was that there was no baby here and she hadn't heard anyone mention it. "I've always wanted to meet you, Rose. He really missed you," Martha whispered. She didn't know why she didn't want the Doctor to hear this, she just felt like there were too many ears in the TARDIS right now. "_Both_ of you."

Apparently Rose was smarter than Martha thought because she glanced up at Martha with a small smirk on her face. "Nice job asking about the baby without outright mentioning her."

"So you aren't going to answer?" Martha sighed. She caught sight of Mickey out of the corner of her eye glancing at her and Rose, obviously listening in on their conversation.

"Don't worry, Rose," Sarah Jane said. She had moved over to stand behind the jump seat, as had everyone else besides the Doctor and Jack. Those two remained in a corner of the control room, looking like they were in deep discussion about something. "She'll be perfectly fine with Luke. He won't let anything happen to her," Sarah Jane explained, noticing the confused look on Donna's and Martha's faces, continued. "Clara had to stay with my son, Luke."

Mickey let out a laugh as he scooted next to Rose on the other side of the jump seat, casually throwing his arm around her shoulders. "Hope he has some earplugs. You don't want to know how many times I woke up to her wailing in the night. Good thing I was there, Rose always needed me to help burp her."

"I know," Rose murmured. She looked up to acknowledge the Doctor again before she spoke. "Even then I can't stop feeling scared about it. I just need to hold her to make sure she is safe."

The Doctor didn't respond, just moved away from Jack and stood in front of Mickey with his arms crossed. With the cocking of one eyebrow, Mickey appeared as if he got the message and immediately took his hands off of Rose and vacated his seat next to her. It was the first time the Doctor had interacted with Rose and it seemed like the whole group in the TARDIS was holding their breath. "Donna, tell the others what they should be doing with the controls please."

"Jack, press that button there," Donna explained, sending Jack a wink as she instructed him. "Marta move that lever when I tell you too. Mickey spin that ball the same time I tell Martha to move the lever. And Sarah Jane flip that switch on right now."

While everyone else was occupied the Doctor sunk down next to Rose on the seat in silence. Rose sat there stiffly, unsure of how to respond after all that had happened. Thankfully, the Doctor moved first, pulling Rose back so that her back was leaning against his chest, wrapping his arms around her as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Rose Tyler," the Doctor whispered as if he was testing the words with his mouth.

After that no more words were spoken between the couple. The Doctor spent several minutes intertwining their hands and just staring at it, hardly believing that Rose was actually there.

"Mr. Mickey then, eh?" the Doctor asked. Rose couldn't see his face, but she knew exactly how it would look by how he said the words.

"What do you mean?" Rose mumbled, turning around so that she was facing the Doctor.

"I think," the Doctor began, shooting Mickey a dark glare. "I think you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about. I'm sure _Ricky_ knows too."

Rose could feel the tension practically radiating tension, so stood up with her hands on her hips. "Stop acting like such a spoiled little brat, Doctor," Rose announced as she glanced around to see how the others were responding to her words. Except for the shocked look on Martha's face the rest of them looked like they were trying hard not to laugh. "Come on, you obviously want to talk to me about something."

Letting Rose lead him away, the Doctor ignored the whistle Jack let out and reminded himself to pummel him in the future. However Rose was all he could think about right now. She was there, right in front of him, close enough to touch. "What do we need to discuss, Rose?" the Doctor asked when Rose stopped a few steps into the library without turning around at him.

"Oh," Rose whispered. "I'd forgotten how beautiful the library was."

Noticing she was crying, the Doctor spun her around so that he could look at her. Her eyes were red and her mascara had begun to run but the Doctor was sure he had never seen anyone so beautiful before. "Please tell me this isn't a dream."

"This isn't a dream," Rose sniffed before she launched herself at him, practically pushing him onto the ground as she clung tightly to him to make sure he was real. "I found you, Doctor. I finally found you."

"Rose," the Doctor whispered. He couldn't believe he hadn't asked yet, it was so important to know. "How long has it been since I last saw you?"

"Only six months, Doctor," Rose responded as she clung onto him tighter. "They were already working on the dimension cannon and when Torchwood found out that my child's father was in another universe they spent all of their time on the project. How long has it been for you?"

The Doctor let out a choking noise and buried his face into Rose's hair before he spoke again. "I was so scared, Rose. That I was going to lose you again when I just got you back. And now…we have so much time, love."

"Doctor, how long has it been since you've seen me?" Rose asked again, knowing that she would make sure she got a response this time. "I mean, obviously it has been quite some time if you have had two companions that I know of since then."

"Almost three years," the Doctor answered in a quiet voice, trying to block out the pained noise Rose made.

"I'm glad you moved on," Rose lied, pulling away from the Doctor and looking at the floor. "I didn't want you to be alone, I'm glad you found someone else to travel with."

"Rose…it wasn't," the Doctor explained as he reached out to stroke her cheek. "Don't think that, Rose. They weren't _you, _Rose."

"Doctor, please don't pretend for me," Rose whispered, but she moved closer to him. "I understand, I really do. You would always have to live on without me, it just happened sooner than we expected."

The Doctor let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "We both understand what the other is feeling, Rose. Mickey the idiot being there with my daughter, that _kills_ me and I know you feel the same way about my other companions. But I want to get past this together," the Doctor explained, looking deeply into her eyes to make her understand. "I never got to finish my sentence on that beach, Rose."

"No," Rose exclaimed, quickly covering the Doctor's mouth before he could speak. "Don't say it because you feel like you have to, Doctor."

"Shush, you have no idea how long I've waited to tell these words to you," the Doctor said, his voice so quiet Rose could barely hear it. Then he looked up at her and smiled before he spoke again, the words ringing around Rose's head. "Rose Tyler, I love you. I love you so much, Rose. I need you and words cannot explain how _much_ I love you."

Rose immediately gripped onto the Doctor's lapels and pulled her towards him, pressing her lips against his. She sighed the moment his lips met hers, she had missed him so much, the feel of his lips against hers.

The Doctor pulled away after a few minutes and just rested his forehead and just stood still. "Oh, Rose, you are so perfect."

"I love you, my Doctor," Rose whispered as his arms tightened around her. He smiled brighter than he had in over two years.

The Doctor was the one to lean forward now, kissing her with what he hoped would display how much he loved her. Just as he was in the process of repositioning themselves onto the couch they both felt the TARDIS give a sudden jerk.

"I guess we can't ignore that," the Doctor laughed as he jumped to his feet and helped Rose up. "Apparently Donna can fly the TARDIS as good as me."

…

Rose stayed inside of the TARDIS as the Doctor said goodbye to Martha. Even though she had only known her for a few minutes, she knew how important she was to the Doctor. It had surprised her when Martha had hugged her and told her she was so happy she had found the Doctor again before she left.

Right now Rose was smirking at Mickey, knowing what he was going to say next. "You are definitely staying, aren't you?" Rose asked as she pulled Mickey into a hug. She knew she was going to see him again, he had been a rock for her when she was in the parallel universe. "I saw what you were looking at," Rose continued with a wink. "Martha Jones sure is pretty and I think if you leave right now you can catch up with her."

With a thanks and a brief hug Mickey took her advice and bolted out of the TARDIS after Martha. Rose was surprised when she felt someone's arms wrap around her and lift her a few feet off of the ground.

"Jack!" Rose squealed when he finally put her down and turned around and launched herself into his arms. She hadn't had much of a chance to talk to him yet, it seemed as if Donna was trying to get his whole attention. It was sad, to be reunited with all of these people only to say goodbye to them only hours later. If she had anything to do with the Doctor piloting the TARDIS, and she knew that she would, she would make sure to visit all of these people. "Oh, are you sure you have to go back to Torchwood? I will miss you so much and you never got to meet Clara!"

"You haven't seen the last of me, Rose!" Jack called out as he left the TARDIS to say goodbye to the Doctor. "After all, I think that Mickey Smith and Martha Jones need a little talking to about Torchwood!"

It seemed like seconds later when the Doctor entered the TARDIS again with a strange look in Donna's direction. If Rose was right, it looked like his hearts were breaking when he looked at the redhead. And that confused Rose, after all everyone was safe, the Earth was back in place, and he was about to meet his daughter.

"Sarah Jane, would you mind if I let you off here?" the Doctor pleasantly asked the confused woman. "Don't worry, Rose and I will come get her right after you get home."

With a nod that she would see them again soon to say goodbye, Sarah Jane also exited the TARDIS.

Now with everyone else gone except for the Doctor, Rose, and Donna it was quiet on the ship, as if they were waiting for someone else to start talking.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Rose asked as the Doctor went over to the controls and piloted them into the Vortex. "I mean, why can't we go get Clara now. I know she just misses her mummy and she will love to meet her daddy!"

"We will get her soon, Rose," the Doctor mumbled as he met her eyes and tried to show her how serious his next words were. "Then we _are_ going to come back to the TARDIS and travel."

Donna sensed a strange tension between the couple and spoke up as she went over to stand next to the Doctor. "I thought first we could try the planet Felspoon. Just because. What a good name, Felspoon. Apparently, it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine? I'm sure the baby would love that."

"And how do you know that?" the Doctor asked as he turned to look at Donna with a broken look on his face. His hands were clenched as he spoke and he wouldn't acknowledge Rose even when she pulled on his jacket.

"Because it's in your head," Donna proclaimed with a smirk. She loved knowing this much, it was amazing how much the Doctor knew and never mentioned. "And if it's in your head, it's in mine."

The Doctor stayed in the same position and gave her a sad look. "And how does that feel?"

Before Donna could answer, Rose spoke up first. "Doctor, what's wrong? Why are you acting like this?" Rose asked, deciding to try to make a joke. "Come on, I just got back. Don't turn into a moody mess yet!"

"Rose Marion Tyler," the Doctor snapped as he turned to look down at her. "Please, just go somewhere else in the TARDIS right now. I'll come get you soon so we can go pick Clara up, I promise."

"No," Rose answered with a determined look on her face. She had been through _so much _today and she wasn't going to give up now.

"Rose, please. Just go to our room, okay?" the Doctor asked even though he knew it was a fruitless request. "It is _exactly _how it was when you left. Or you could go to the garden, you always loved going there."

"Doctor," Rose whispered as she grabbed hold of his hand. "I am never going to do that. I am going to stay right here. Whatever it is that you don't want me in here for, just let me be here with you. I just got back to you, don't send me off."

"Fine," the Doctor huffed before he turned back to talk to Donna. "And how does that feel, Donna? Having my head in your head?"

Donna looked shocked for a moment before she shifted over and began hitting the controls just like the Doctor had before. "Brilliant! Fantastic! Molto bene! Great big universe, packed into my brain," Donna rambled as she picked up the phone. "You know you could fix that chameleon circuit if you just tried hot binding the fragment links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary," Donna gasped as she was finally in control of her mouth and stared at the Doctor with wide eyes.

"Donna," Rose whispered, attempting to step towards her. Before she reached her the Doctor wrapped his arm around her waist and held her back behind him.

"I'm fine. Nah, never mind Felspoon," Donna announced with a frantic look in her eye. "You know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin. I bet he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin? Shall we? Charlie Chaplin? Charlie Chester. Charlie Brown. No, he's fiction. Friction, fiction, fixing, mixing, Rickston, Brixton."

Rose could tell something terrible was happening, even though she didn't understand it. She felt the Doctor's body tense up and laid her head against his back, hoping that the light contact would help a bit. However, from the way the Doctor clenched his fists she knew there was nothing she could do to stop his pain this time.

"Oh, my God," Donna gasped out as she slumped against the controls with her head in her hands, obviously in pain.

The Doctor moved away from Rose and she stood in the same position. This wasn't her place to interfere, this was between the Doctor and his best friend. So Rose just stood there, willing herself not to cry and hurt the Doctor even more. She barely knew Donna, but she felt like this was goodbye and she wished they had more time to get to know each other.

"Do you know what's happening?" the Doctor gasped as he moved towards her with a pained expression on his face.

"Yeah," Donna whispered as she looked up at the Doctor. Her eyes looked so broken and there was tears in her eyes, but the moment they flitted over to Rose she slightly smiled. The Doctor wouldn't be alone.

"There's never been a human Time Lord metacrisis before now," the Doctor said as he moved right next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "And you know why."

Donna took a quivering breath before she met his eyes and began to shake. "Because there can't be," she whispered as she shook her head back and forth. Her voice was breaking but she didn't care right now. "I want to stay."

"Look at me," the Doctor ordered when she looked down and he put his hands on her shoulders. "Donna, look at me."

"I was going to be with you forever," Donna whispered as she began to cry. He understood, they had the same mind. She knew how he was feeling and her heart was breaking. She didn't want to go, she wanted to stay.

"I know," the Doctor responded. His voice was breaking, but he had to stay strong for Donna.

"The rest of my life, travelling in the Tardis," Donna proclaimed as she began to resist his grip. "The Doctor Donna. And Rose would be there too with the baby. I wanted to see you be a father, Doctor," she cried. "No. Oh my god. I can't go back. Don't make me go back. Doctor, please, please don't make me go back."

The Doctor took a deep breath before he spoke again, the last conversation he and Donna would ever have. "Donna. Oh, Donna Noble. I am so sorry. But we had the best of times."

"No," Donna sobbed as he positioned his hands on her temples. She knew what he was going to do next.

"The best," the Doctor whispered as he tried to convey how much he had loved traveling with her in two words. "Goodbye."

"No, no, no. Please. Please. No. No," Donna exclaimed as the Doctor closed his eyes and entered her mind.

Donna let out a sharp gasp as all her beautiful journeys with the Doctor flew into her mind as he erased them from her mind. She passed out then, falling right into the Doctor's awaiting arms as he hugged her limp body and wished he hadn't had to do that to Donna Noble.

"Doctor," Rose whispered as she hesitantly approached with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Rose," the Doctor responded, not having the energy to smile at her. "I am going to take Donna back home and explain to her parents what happened. I need to do this alone, Rose. Please just stay in the TARDIS for me."

Thankfully Rose did as he said for once as she stood and watched him lug Donna off the TARDIS. She felt terrible, she couldn't help the Doctor. He was hurting and she was just standing there, unsure of what to do to ease the ache in his hearts. The TARDIS had been so full only hours before, and now it was slowly emptying out.

…

Rose jumped up to her feet when she heard the TARDIS doors open and saw the Doctor come into the room soaking wet with a broken look on her face.

"Oh, Doctor," Rose sighed as she ran to him and hugged him as tight as she could. She didn't care that she was getting wet too, he needed her right now and she was going to be there for him.

"Rose," the Doctor whispered against her hair. "She doesn't remember me. When she said goodbye, she just said, 'see you' and it hurt so much."

"I'm here, Doctor," Rose said as she began to move over to the jump seat so they could both sit down. "I'm never going to leave you. I'll be here. It's okay, Doctor. You can cry now, I've got you right now."

When they got to the jump seat the Doctor allowed himself to crumple against Rose. They both had no idea how much time passed, just that they were together right now. It was odd, the Doctor was crying because he had just lost Donna, but there was so much more than that. Both he and Rose were crying as well because they were together again. After so long, they were together and no one was trying to pull them apart.

After quite some time, the Doctor pulled away from Rose and composed himself. "So, what do we do now?"

"Come on, Doctor," Rose said, trying to blink out the happy tears that were filling her eyes. "Come on and meet your daughter."

**I'm sorry...**

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	11. The Belated Meeting

**I am super busy...so this may be it for a while!**

**Thanks for all my lovely readers and please, please, please REVIEW and I will love you forever!**

**P.S. Please review...**

The Belated Meeting

The Doctor was deathly silent and still as he quickly landed the TARDIS with barely a bump. "Doctor," Rose said as she gave the Doctor a quick hug now that the spaceship was effectively landed in front of Sarah Jane's home. "It'll be okay, I promise."

"Allons-y," the Doctor said, his voice unsure even with his familiar catchphrase.

At that word, Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him out of the TARDIS behind her, a smile filling her face that it was still the same day they had left from. She guessed that Sarah Jane hadn't even been home that long as well.

"Thank God that alien managed to control his ship this time," Sarah Jane called out as she exited the house and pulled Rose in for a tight hug, only to do the same to the Doctor moments later.

"I would never forgive him if we showed up a year late," Rose exclaimed as she felt the Doctor's hand grip around her waist.

"Clara's perfectly fine," Sarah Jane explained as she opened the door for them and cocked her head towards the room where Clara was waiting. "Why don't you go and meet her, Doctor?" she asked with a smile that Rose quickly returned as Rose pulled him towards the room.

The Doctor immediately froze in the doorway as he gazed down at Clara. She was completely oblivious to their presence right now and seemed perfectly content how she was. Stepping forwards a bit, the Doctor watched as Rose walked right up to their daughter with no hesitation, not sure how he should approach this.

"Can I?" the Doctor whispered as he hesitantly stood to the side as Rose bent down and picked up the crawling baby. "Can I hold her?"

"Of course you can," Rose exclaimed as she transferred Clara into his waiting arms. The one thing she could do for him would be to keep the move positive and fast-paced. After all, she knew the Doctor was more than a little upset that his daughter was seven months old the first time he was able to hold her. "She's yours."

The Doctor's eyes grew wide as he observed the child in his arms. She was looking up at him with eyes that were copies of his own and she was so beautiful. "Hello," the Doctor muttered to Clara, pleased when she responded with a giggle. "I'm your daddy and I love you very much. I missed you, Clara. But we'll be together again now, yeah?"

However, it was then that Clara looked up again, a familiar pout, to Rose, that is, on her tiny lips. Recently Clara had begun to cry and throw a fit unless Rose or her family were to hold her, considering everyone else a terrifying stranger that she wanted nothing to do with. Apparently the Doctor was in the second category right now.

"Doctor, she is about to explode," Rose warned, holding her hands out to take Clara back. Internally, she felt so bad about the situation. It wasn't fair that Clara didn't understand that the Doctor was her father. "I'll take her."

"No," the Doctor snapped back, seeming rather offended that Rose had insinuated he couldn't take care of _his _daughter. "I know how to calm down a baby, Rose. Just because you've had to raise Clara on your own so far doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself."

Just as Rose was about to speak up and reassure him that she knew he was more than capable, Clara extended her hands out to Rose, squirming against the Doctor's grip. Babbling in urgency, Clara began pushing back against the Doctor in her attempt to get away from him and to return to her mother. Rose bit her lip and glanced at the Doctor to see his expression, knowing this wasn't the reunion either of them had been hoping for. However, the Doctor's face seemed determined as he shifted his hold on Clara and kissed the top of her head. Much to Rose's chagrin, Clara's hair was already darkening and slowly but surely losing its blonde tint.

Sitting down on the couch, the Doctor kept Clara firmly on his lap as he began to search through the bag Rose had brought. "Look it's a fluffy little bunny," the Doctor began, pulling out a stuffed animal and handing it to the little girl. "Mind you, on the planet Jixalop all the bunnies are six feet tall and rather vicious to intruders…so I'm not going to take you there. Oh, I'm sure you would enjoy the planet Gloune! All you have to do is go through the waterfall and there is this giant meadow full of basically Earth-like flowers. And they have bunnies there, except they always stay small and are completely friendly and will let you pick them up," he continued on with other planets for a moment before he paused again. "Oh! I have so many new toys for you in the TARDIS, Clara! This stuffed bunny will be nothing compared to the little Slitheen you can play with."

However, Clara was not having the Doctor's distraction and shoved the stuffed animal away in anger. Almost immediately after that Clara finally began to cry, or more like scream, as she reached for Rose again. Stepping forwards towards them, Rose stopped when the Doctor sent her a harsh glare, clearly signaling that he didn't want her help.

For a whole hour Clara continued to wail and completely ignore the Doctor. He tried everything he thought of, but to no avail. After offering her practically everything to play with and rocking her or even telling her stories didn't work, the Doctor was beginning to get anxious as well.

"Doctor, just give her back to me," Rose whispered, trying to sound authoritative and apologetic at the same time. As Rose extended her arms, Clara's cries picked up volume, her body still pushing towards her mother. "She's going to hurt herself if she keeps on crying and she isn't going to stop until I'm holding her."

The Doctor paused for a few moments, looking up at Rose with a strange expression on his face. In a last ditch attempt, the Doctor continued to talk to Clara, bouncing her on his lap. "You're worrying mummy, Clara. You can calm down and play with daddy, can't you?"

When that failed yet again, the Doctor jerkily stood up with the red-faced baby. Transferring Clara into Rose's awaiting arms as if it was painful to do so, the Doctor watched as Rose kissed Clara's forehead, murmuring to stop crying. Almost immediately, Clara rested her head against Rose, her cries quickly diminishing to whimpers.

"Shh, mummy's got you," Rose murmured to the little girl. She sat down on the seat the Doctor had just vacated, comfortingly rubbing Clara's back as the baby continued to sniffle. "No need to cry, Clara. Daddy was just trying to play, sweetheart. He loves you very much and it hurts him that you won't let him hold you."

The moment she stopped speaking, Rose glanced up at the Doctor. He didn't look up at her at all, just turned and swiftly left the room. Rose closed her eyes, she _knew_ he was going to run like he always did, she was just hoping something had changed. Apparently she was wrong again.

Letting out a sigh, Rose sat Clara back up on the couch, knowing that she was sure to fall asleep soon after crying like that. Clara's eyes were already beginning to slide shut as Rose turned the television on to some kiddy show that she vaguely recognized having watched when she was younger.

"Mummy is going to make sure daddy is okay, Clara," Rose told her daughter, kissing her forehead again before she left the room.

Just as she had expected, Sarah Jane was in the kitchen with a forced smile on her face. Rose glanced around, wondering where Luke was when she realized he had probably gone off with friends so he wouldn't have to listen to Clara crying. "Sorry about that," Rose said with a shy smile. "She isn't usually like that…"

"It's okay, sweetheart," Sarah Jane responded, just as upbeat as before. "And I think the Doctor was going into the TARDIS last time I saw him."

"Thanks," Rose mumbled as she let out a relieved breath that the TARDIS was in the exact same place as before. "And can you…"

"I'll watch Clara for you," Sarah Jane answered, giving Rose's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I haven't been able to be around babies much, it'll be a pleasure."

With another quick thank you towards Sarah, Rose bounded out the doors towards the TARDIS, fumbling with the key she always kept around her neck for a moment. Finally able to push the door open, Rose stepped into the room she had dreamt about for months.

However, the Doctor was not fixing something in the controls like he usually was. "Doctor?" Rose called out, receiving no answer at all.

Sighing, Rose set out on her quest to search through the TARDIS's limitless room to find the Doctor. After checking the kitchen and library where she could usually find him, Rose scrunched her eyebrows, wondering where in the hell he could be. Getting a sudden inspiration, Rose ran towards where her old bedroom was when she lived here. Worrying her bottom lip when that room looked clean and unlived in just as it had been the last time she had entered it almost a year ago, Rose made her way towards the Doctor's bedroom. She seriously doubted he would be in there, but she knew it was the most logical place to check next. Rose had to bite back tears when she saw how the room was _exactly _as they had left it. The bed hadn't even been made and her odd snack was still sitting on the table, yet there wasn't a patch of dust in sight. Letting out a sigh that she would have to tidy up the room later on herself, Rose decided to search in more obscure places. After checking the bowling alley, the pool, the ice rink, the garden, and the sky room, Rose was about to give up, knowing she had probably been searching for more than an hour and didn't want to get lost herself on the TARDIS.

It was only then that Rose realized that she had missed a very important room to check. Praying that her intuition was right, Rose searched the corridors for the familiar door. When she found it, Rose hesitated for a moment before she pushed the nursery door open.

"I knew I would find you here," Rose breathed out when she saw the Doctor sitting on the floor in front of the unused crib with his head pressed up against the bars.

"Yeah…" the Doctor replied in a quiet tone, not even glancing up to look at Rose. "Clara just kept on saying that she didn't want some strange man holding her and wanted her mummy. She was actually _scared_ of me, Rose."

"What?!" Rose squeaked out, missing the whole point of the Doctor's statement when she heard that he knew what Clara had said.

"I speak baby…" the Doctor explained with a sigh as if that was the most obvious explanation.

"Oh," Rose murmured, deciding she would bring that up at a later time. Walking over to the Time Lord, Rose put her hand on his back, relieved when he relaxed a bit and faced her. Motioning for him to follow her example, Rose sat cross-legged on the floor with the Doctor right across from her. "I'm sorry, Doctor."

"It isn't fair," the Doctor said, obviously only needing a slight push from Rose to start talking. "She should _know _that I am her father, Rose. On Gallifrey, the children always know who their parents are even though they rarely see them. See, they have a telepathic bond with the mother in particular, but often with the father as well. And it isn't fair that I can never have that with Clara," the Doctor continued on with a broken expression. "I _love _Clara, but it hurts so much that she is practically scared of me. I didn't want it to be like this, Rose. I wanted to keep my promise more than anything. And it killed me that I wasn't there for both of you and even though I got you back, it isn't how it should be."

"I wish Clara could share that bond with you, Doctor," Rose whispered as she clasped onto the Doctor's hand. "And it _will_ get better, I promise. Clara will love you too and you will be there from now on. I don't blame you for those months, Doctor. Those things were not under your control and I know that isn't what you wanted."

"I missed so many firsts with Clara, Rose," the Doctor breathed out, running a hand through his hair. "She should've been in this nursery, love. And she doesn't know me or this room…no matter if I am here for everything else, I _wasn't there_, Rose."

Gazing down at their joined hands, Rose tried to think of what to say next to reassure the Doctor that everything would be alright. "There are a lot of other firsts you will be able to live through, Doctor. Trust me, all that matters is that we are together again."

"For how long, Rose?" the Doctor asked as he looked up to meet her eyes. "It _can't _last forever," he whispered, pain filling his features for a moment. "Not for me."

"But it will for _us,_" Rose tried to explain as she scooted closer to him.

"I'm going to lose you, Rose," the Doctor said in a somber tone. "And I'm going to lose Clara. Someday you'll both leave me and I'll be alone again. It isn't fair, Rose…why can't you stay with me?"

"I wish you could keep Clara, Doctor," Rose whispered, kneeling in front of him now as she rested her forehead against his. "But…we can't have that. She's too human because of John…and I am too."

Breathing heavily as he rested his head against Rose's shoulder, the Doctor took a long moment to compose himself. "It's hard," the Doctor began in a husky voice. "To know that it'll be over far too soon. That I will have something so perfect with you and Clara and I won't be able to keep it."

"Won't it be worth it?" Rose murmured as she wrapped her arms around the Doctor's familiar form. "It'll be okay, Doctor. Because you'll have the memories and know how much Clara and I love you, now and forever."

"Of course, of course," the Doctor exclaimed as he pulled Rose closer to him. "I'll have a life that I never dreamed I wanted," he sobered up for a moment, his face slowly morphing into a smile. "And it is gonna be…_fantastic_," he said, repeating the words he had said soon after regeneration when he spoke of his continued travels with Rose.

"We have a life to make, Doctor," Rose said as she grinned her tongue in teeth smile at him.

"Weeeeeell, we better not waste it," the Doctor suggested with a cheeky grin as his hands found Rose's waist.

Just as his lips were about to graze hers, Rose pulled away with a stern look on her face. "I saw how messy you left our bedroom, Doctor. Seriously, you even left my chips and custard in there?"

"I couldn't go in there, sweetheart," the Doctor murmured as he moved in to kiss her again. "It hurt too much, reminded me too much of you, Rose. Oh, you have no idea how much I _missed _you," he said, pausing for a moment. "And I'll clean our bedroom later. But first, I think that we should mess it up even more…"

Letting the sentence drop from his lips with a seductive wink, the Doctor hoisted Rose up bridal style. Raising her eyebrows at him, Rose couldn't help but giggle as he carried her to the bedroom, dropping her rather unceremoniously onto the still rumpled blue sheets.

"Why, someone seems a little impatient, don't you?" Rose giggled as the Doctor quickly took off his many layers until he was only clad in pinstriped boxers.

"Are you complaining, Miss Tyler?" the Doctor asked as he joined her on the bed. Gently placing a hand on her cheek, the Doctor sat still for a moment just looking at her. "You are even more beautiful than you were in my memories, love."

"And your hair…it sticks up even more," Rose replied with a smile as she leaned forwards and finally kissed him, sighing at the familiar contact. As her hands made their way to his fantastic hair, Rose pulled him down so that he was directly above her, the familiar pressure of their bodies against each other simply wonderful. "Doctor?"

"Yeah?" the Doctor murmured as he began to kiss his way down her neck, remembering all of the places that made her make that _very _pleasing sound.

"I think I am wearing _much_ more clothing than I should be," Rose said in a confident voice as she felt the Doctor's hands trailing down her sides. "Don't you?"

…

Walking hand in hang back to Sarah Jane's home, the Doctor's mood was radically different from the last time he had walked those steps. With a quick greeting to Luke as he was doing something on his computer, Rose pulled the Doctor towards Sarah Jane's voice.

"Better?" Sarah Jane asked, nodding her head without waiting for an answer. It appeared as if she had been reading a book to Clara while they were gone. "You two were gone for _hours…_"

A blush filling Rose's face, she leaned closer against the Doctor. "We lost track of time," Rose explained, trying to ignore the fact that the Doctor had let out a throaty chuckle by elbowing him in the side. "Was Clara okay?"

"Perfect little angel," Sarah Jane said with a knowing smile as she observed the clearly in love couple. "Was only asleep for five minutes and then woke up a ball of energy and hasn't calmed down since," she continued with a glance at the Doctor. "Must get it from her father."

"She better love running," the Doctor agreed as he went over and hesitantly picked Clara up off the floor where she had been exploring. Sitting down on couch next to Sarah Jane, the Doctor settled Clara down on his lap, relieved that Clara became very interested in his tie.

"I'm gonna make you all some dinner, okay?" Sarah Jane asked as she motioned for Rose to follow her into the kitchen.

However, the Doctor followed right after them with Clara balanced on his hip. Whatever had changed with Clara to allow the Doctor to hold her, Rose was extremely thankful for. "We can go see mummy cook, right Clara?" he asked as he sat down at the table with Luke.

It didn't take the Doctor long before he bored of that particular adventure and took Clara with him into the other room. The Doctor and Clara only reappeared when Rose announced that the food was ready. As the Doctor transferred the little girl to Rose's arms looking thoroughly pleased with himself, she couldn't stop smiling. The whole situation seemed so _domestic _and she hoped the Doctor didn't mind too much.

After they finished eating the Doctor announced that he and Clara were going to have some more bonding time, shooting Rose a wink as he left the room. Rose honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Doctor was attempting to teach Clara physics before she was one year old.

As Sarah Jane sat down next to Rose at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, she and Rose reminisced about travels with the Time Lord for at least three hours. Rose enjoyed this, it wasn't often that she could speak to someone about what life was _really _like on the TARDIS.

"Are you going to be staying the night, Rose?" Sarah Jane asked as Rose helped her wash the dishes from dinner after they finished their talk. "You are more than welcome."

"I'd love to," Rose replied with a smile at the comforting woman. "But you know how the Doctor is, always wants to be running about."

"Why don't you go check on them?" Sarah Jane suggested with a knowing smile.

Rose glanced back into the next room, almost giggling at what she saw. The Doctor was sound asleep, sprawled across the couch that was much too short for his lanky frame. That was surprising enough for Rose, the Doctor didn't sleep as much as a normal human. Instead, he slept about five hours every few days and that seemed to give him energy to spare. All in all, most of the times that the Doctor had been asleep in Rose's presence she had been as well and hadn't been able to actually see what he was like in his sleep. The Doctor's face looked so much younger than it did while he was awake. All of the tension in his face was relaxed in sleep and his ancient eyes were closed, giving him the appearance of a typical human in his mid-thirties. His pinstriped suit seemed a bit rumpled and his arm was hanging lazily towards the floor. His converse clad feet were propped up on a taller table by the edge of the couch. But the thing that made Rose smile was the fact that Clara was sound asleep as well. She was sprawled out as well on top of the Doctor's chest, appearing perfectly relaxed in his presence now. They both looked as if they weren't planning on waking up anytime soon and for that Rose was more than relieved that she got to see this adorable image.

"Actually," Rose said as she quietly made her way back over to Sarah Jane with a beaming smile. "It seems as if the Doctor and Clara are rather comfortable as they are."

**AWWWWW, right?!**

**Also, remember that you can add any story request from this story as well or anytime in this whole story line in my story "A Human Wife: One-shots" so be sure to check that out as well!**

**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	12. The New Beginning

**SO! This is all I have written so far... **

**Thanks for all my lovely readers and please, please, please REVIEW and I will love you forever!**

**P.S. Please review...**

The New Beginning

It had almost been four weeks since the Earth and the other twenty six planets had been stolen with Davros's plan. As of late, they hadn't traveled anywhere at all. Instead, the TARDIS was just floating in the Time Vortex as its inhabitants got reacquainted with each other without having to run from monsters.

"Doctor," Rose groaned in annoyance as she heavily sat down on a chair by the kitchen table late one morning. "What are you doing?"

"An experiment…" the Doctor answered in a shy tone. He glanced back down at the items he had on the table. He had taken a few of Clara's toys that were now completely disassembled and seemed to be scanning them.

"Clara still asleep?" Rose asked as she pulled the hair out of her face with a sigh. "How long were you in bed last night anyway?"

"I didn't have to sleep, I slept the night before," the Doctor explained as he pushed his experiment to the side. "I left not long after you fell asleep."

With a sigh, Rose gave the Doctor a pointed look. A smirk on his face, the Doctor got out of his chair and kissed Rose on the cheek. "I'm going to go get Clara, love. You can make tea, okay?"

As Rose got up to do the aforementioned task, she thought about how odd the whole situation was. It seemed more domestic than she could ever think things could be on the TARDIS. Still, she honestly couldn't be happier about it all. "How is my little girl?" Rose crooned when she heard the Doctor enter the kitchen again.

"I think she is going to take her first steps today!" the Doctor happily announced as he sat down at the table with Clara on his lap. Despite Rose's attempts, the Doctor had been avidly against ever having a (what's it called?) in the TARDIS.

"Probably not," Rose replied as she passed the Doctor a cup of tea with what she always thought to be too much sugar. "Doctor, she is only eight months old. I didn't start walking until I was well into thirteen months. And don't start on with the fact that you are superior because we both know that is pointless right now. It doesn't really matter when she starts walking anyway because I'm sure she'll have to be running much too early as it is."

"Still, we both know Clara is going to be a genius," the Doctor countered with a smirk as he gestured to Clara as she played with his sonic screwdriver, giggling when she hit a button that caused a light or sound to go off. "Anyway, remember what I said last night?"

Rose's face turned bright red for a moment, her eyes widening at the Doctor's innocent expression. "Doctor!" she warned, biting her lip as she thought back to think what he was asking about. "What is wrong with you? Little ears are listening."

Eyebrows scrunching up in confusion, the Doctor continued to talk. "About going on an adventure today. Sure Clara would like to get started on seeing the universe," the Doctor stopped, his mouth forming an o as he realized what Rose was thinking about. "Oh…that wasn't what I was asking you about. However, now that you mention it…" the Doctor trailed off, his eyebrows wagging seductively.

"Down, boy," Rose joked with a wink before she answered his actual question. "And that would be lovely, actually.

"A few months too late," the Doctor said as he began to think of where they should go. "So, do you want to go back or forwards in time? Or just go somewhere else in the Universe, Clara?"

Rose let out a giggle, she always loved it when the Doctor took advantage of the fact that he could understand what babies were saying. Still, some of the things that came out of Clara's mouth was just downright shocking. "What did you tell daddy, darling?"

"She said she wants to go see aliens…err…not in those exact words, but basically," the Doctor responded. "Anyway, I think I have a good idea of where we are going! And you know what, Rose?"

"Huh?" Rose asked, distractedly glancing up at the Doctor as she looked in the fridge to see what to feed Clara for breakfast. "Where is that?"

"Somewhere new," the Doctor said with a wide smile as he kissed the top of Clara's head. "And it'll be brilliant."

…

It was more than an hour later when Rose was able to get herself and Clara ready as the Doctor ran about the TARDIS acting like an excited little kid now that they were going to travel again. That baffled Rose to no end as he was the one who had thought they should stay on the ship so that Clara could get used to him and also so that he knew they would be safe for a short time.

"Did I feel us land?" Rose asked as she walked into the cluttered console room with Clara. "Also, how are we going to take Clara?"

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked as he bounced over in his usual red trainers with his clean blue suit on and scooped the curious girl up.

"Like are we going to be using a stroller," Rose wondered as the Doctor started laughing. "Apparently that is a no…but seriously, she can't be running all the time like we can."

"We can just carry her," the Doctor announced as if that was the most obvious answer ever. "No offense, but I really don't want to be using all those primitive carrying devices. Plus, we won't really be going places where we will be in life threatening danger, hopefully."

Knowing there was nothing that would change the Doctor's mind, she decided to talk about it again later. "Where are we going to be?"

"The planet Lilayan," the Doctor announced, moving to go open the door. "Why don't you go look at it yourself?"

"No way!" Rose said, her eyes grazing over at what she was seeing. The first thing she noticed was the animal grazing in the bright orange meadow. "Is that seriously a _unicorn_?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Rose's reaction as he stepped fully outside of the TARDIS, amused to see that even Clara was studying the animal. "They are called maxin here, but yes, it seriously is."

"Why haven't you taken me here before?" Rose gasped. However, she was stopped from saying whatever she had been planning when she noticed that a whole herd of unicorns were joining the first one and raced past them, their white fur glinting in the orange sky as their single horns pointed the direction they were galloping. "So, the scoop on this planet…"

"Let me think, the time is relatively around 10,000, though this planet only really started developing a few thousand years ago. They are still rather primitive, which is why we are in this time. You see, they become very attached to guns in a few centuries and actually go to war with the Sontarons. They lose, of course," the Doctor explained, rolling his eyes as he sat Clara down into the orange glass. "After that the Sontarons use this planet as a breeding planet and the rest of the Lilayanian race spreads out among the universe. By the year 20,000 there are no more pure inhabitants of this planet."

Kneeling down next to where Clara was crawling about, Rose pulled up a handful of the colorful grass, bringing it up to her nose to sniff. "This grass, is it safe? I mean…it looks pretty funky being all orange like this."

"I tell you the history of this planet and all you care to ask is about the _grass_?" the Doctor gasped, taking the grass from Rose's hand and licking it. "And it is perfectly fine for Clara to be in and eat. In fact," he announced, picking his daughter up and feeding her a piece of the grass. "It tastes like peppermint candy canes."

Judging from Clara's wide smile as she babbled and thrust her hand out for more grass she enjoyed the taste of her new treat. "So what do the aliens on this planet look like?"

"Pretty humanish, actually," the Doctor said as Rose hesitantly tried a piece of the grass. "I am thinking that we should gradually ease Clara into seeing aliens… We don't want her to offend any species and cause a war or something because she is scared of their appearance."

"Whoa, look at you! Thinking ahead..." Rose said with a smile. She took off in the direction the unicorns, or maxin, had run from. Also, there was a pleasant looking mountain that way that Rose was just itching to explore. "Though maybe you should have used that foresight with me. First time out and I get to see a human trampoline and a giant head in a jar," she paused for a moment as she glanced back at him. "Umm…you didn't get a distress call from this planet or anything, did you? Because I really don't want to do the running for our life stuff with an eight month old."

The Doctor just smiled with the knowledge of who the Face of Boe really was as he followed after Rose. He was saving that secret for when they went back to see Jack again because, knowing Rose, she would demand a visit sometime soon. "Nope, just here for pleasure right now!" the Doctor explained, cocking his ear to the side as he listened to the baby babble. "Oh, and Clara says she wants to keep playing in the grass. Apparently it is a lot more exciting than the boring grass she is used to."

"We can when we come back, sweetheart," Rose told Clara with a wide grin. "But first mummy wants to go see the city, okay?"

Right as Rose mentioned seeing the city, a few tall buildings came into view on the horizon past the trees. From what they could see, all of the structures were black and rather thin as they reached towards the sky with what appeared to be spheres where the people actually lived. However, it still took almost an hour to walk back to the town, not that any of them mattered anyway.

"Wait a moment," Rose said, holding out her hand to stop the Doctor from passing her into the city. "Is there anything we need to be careful about?"

"Nope," the Doctor happily announced as he grabbed ahold of her outreached hand and pulled her with him. "Just act like you belong here. First I think we should go to a maxin stable," the Doctor said, pausing with an eye roll at Rose's adamant expression. "Fine, the _unicorn_ stable. Last time I was here they let you go up and feed them. That was centuries ago for me, when I wore that long scarf the unicorn liked to gnaw on. As long as none of us have dangling clothing or let their teeth anywhere near Clara we should be fine."

"That's it, I'm holding her," Rose demanded, quickly taking Clara from the Doctor, letting out a huff that she was being so restless today. "Just calm down and be good for mummy, okay?"

Taking Clara's babble as a yes, and the fact that the Doctor didn't contradict her statement, they made their way through the city. The small groups of Lilayanians only sent a few curious gazes at the newcomers as they hurried down the street. "Hmm…there should be a marketplace in the street," the Doctor wondered to himself at the sparsely populated street.

However, Rose just ignored the Doctor's comment. Instead, she shifted Clara on her hip and gaped at the people she had been able to see. "Nice way to mention that they have hooves instead of feet…"

"Oops, slipped my mind," the Doctor muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. "They are basically like the satyrs or fauns in ancient Earth mythology. Oh, that reminds you to take us to the planet Olympus where all the gods originated from. Also, everyone on this planet is a ginger," the Doctor announced as he bent forwards and kissed the top to Clara's head, ruffling her light brown hair as he did so. "There could still be hope for you, sweetheart. Maybe one morning you will wake up with a mound of bright red hair…"

Ignoring the Doctor's rambles, Rose watched the city instead, surprised by the fact that no form of transportation besides walking seemed to exist. "Come on then, I want to go pet a unicorn!"

"This is curious," the Doctor exclaimed a few minutes later when he stopped dead in the street. "The unicorn stable isn't here….this is where it should be," he mumbled to himself, walking over and speaking to a Lilayanian with, of course, bright red hair. "Excuse me, but where is the unicorn stable?"

"There isn't one," the man explained as he scratched his red beard and shifted back and forth on his hooves. "Why would we want to have one? Just too increase the odds of an attack?"

"Attack?" the Doctor asked, his eyes widening a bit in surprise. "But the maxin are peaceful!"

"Where have you been?" the man asked in a taken aback tone. "The last time one of my friends approached one of those beasts he lost an arm….and that isn't even counting my brother who got mauled by a maxin when I was child and lost his life."

Rudely walking away from the man without an explanation, the Doctor rather roughly pulled Clara into his arms. After cooing to Clara when she looked as if she was about to cry, he protectively put an arm around Rose's waist, quickly kissed her pout away, and led them the other direction. "I guess I got a few facts wrong."

However, they only turned one more corner before a group of five men surrounded them, pointing sharp swords at the three of them. "Put your hands up and don't speak," the man in front ordered, his bright green eyes narrowing as he moved his sword even closer to the Doctor's throat.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rose groaned as the Doctor's arm fell from her waist and rose up just as the man had ordered.

"You are under arrest for breaking the law," the obvious leader announced as his eyes shifted from Rose to the Doctor. "Surrender the child to us."

"What law?" the Doctor asked, ignoring the rest of what the man had said as he clutched Clara even tighter to his chest, his eyes appearing murderous as the woman in the group reached out towards the little girl.

"You engaged in facial contact with this…gold haired woman in the street in broad daylight," the leader explained, motioning to someone on his right. "That either means the loss of a finger for both of you or a year in captivity."

At the same moment, Rose spun around, elbowing the nearest man in the chest. Still gaining form her element of surprise, Rose kicked another man in the groin, a smirk filling her face as he groaned and fell to his knees. Apparently that part of anatomy was the same as the human men she had learned to fight with during her few training sessions at Pete's Torchwood.

However, the remaining three attackers jumped on Rose, pinning her on the ground with a sword right up against her throat as the woman pointed her sword at the now screaming baby, even daring to raise an eyebrow as she met the Doctor's eyes.

"You do not do as we say and we will kill them," the woman hissed. "First the yellow woman and then the child. Does that change things?"

The Doctor glanced down, his eyes meeting Rose's in a silent conversation. They both knew they had to give in now, there was no way they could overtake them all without someone getting injured. "We will follow you to the jail…just don't take the child," the Doctor pleaded as he soothingly rubbed circles on Clara's back in hopes that she would quiet down a bit.

The sword-wielding individuals did not respond, but led the Doctor and Rose with them, their swords pointed at them so they wouldn't even think about escaping. Once they reached the one short building in the city, they went inside to see a row of wooden doors that were evidently the jail cells. The woman walked to the Doctor, her hands reaching out for Clara. Despite the Doctor's struggle against her, the combination of the man with the sword behind him and the woman, she was able to pry Clara out of his tight grip. The moment the woman had the baby in her arms, she rushed out of the building without a second glance, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Clara was screaming and struggling against her as she reached out for her parents.

"Doctor, please," Rose whispered as she was finally released from the men's grips as she rushed over to him and clung to his side.

Before the Doctor even had time to respond, the four men opened the nearest door and shoved them inside. "You shall stay here. You get three escorted trips to relieve yourself every day and two meals of stew a day," the leader explained before they all turned away to leave, only a guard that was stationed at the jail remaining for a moment before he slammed the door shut.

Rose expectantly looked over at the Doctor, waiting for him to save the day after the guard had left them. "Come on then, let's go get Clara now."

"Wood," the Doctor replied as he motioned towards the wooden doors that had just been closed and locked, trapping them in a closet sized cell. "The sonic doesn't do wood."

"I hate you," Rose hissed as the Doctor took off his trench coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"I know," the Doctor responded as he scooted over closer to her on the muddy ground, relieved that Rose let him put his arm around her. "It is quite cold and wet in this particular cell. Weeeeell, they usually are. Though this one seems a bit more than usual. Remember that one time the jail at Nanaboxe had a balcony? That was nice…even had a nice hot tub if I remember correctly."

"Just shut up before I kill you," Rose whispered as she turned as rested her head against his chest. "My baby is out there alone, Doctor. What if they hurt her?"

"They aren't going to hurt our daughter, Rose," the Doctor explained as he rubbed his eyes. He didn't want to tell Rose that he was nervous about the very same thing and that his hearts were racing at the very mention that Rose had made. "The Lilayanians don't have offspring often. In fact, whenever they do it is a bit of a miracle… Makes sense really because they often live to be three hundred or so and if they were that fertile the planet would be overpopulated since it really isn't that large," he stopped when he felt Rose's grip on his hand tighten. "Honestly, they do love children. Probably why they took Clara in the first place, couldn't bear to see her in a jail cell."

Rose let out a shaky sigh before she responded again. "What if you have your facts wrong again, Doctor? You thought they were a perfectly safe planet to come to a few hours ago! You _promised _that nothing would go wrong. And it is your fault we are even in here! I feel as if you should know what is legal or not before you lean over and kiss me!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," the Doctor sighed as he ran his hand through his already tousled hair again. "I honestly thought today was going to go well, Rose. I really did. You know I never would purposefully do anything to hurt you or Clara."

"But the point is that you _did_, Doctor," Rose whispered in a shaky voice. "At least I knew Clara was going to be safe with me in Pete's World."

Surprised when she felt the Doctor pull away from her, she glanced up at him. Honestly, she should have been expecting a reaction like this. His jaw was clenched and she could tell he was trying not to snap something incredibly rude back at her. "I don't want her to be in danger, Rose. All I want is to know that I can protect my family."

It was then that Rose's face finally crumpled, the tears she had been holding back coursing their way down her cheeks. "What are we gonna do?"

The Doctor immediately pulled Rose into his arms, kissing her forehead as he rocked her back and forth until her sobs subsided after several minutes. "First of all, we are going to get out of this jail cell. After that we are going to go get our Clara back and make sure they didn't do anything to hurt her. Then all of us are going to figure out why the moxin are dangerous and fix the problem," the Doctor explained in a quiet yet determined voice. "You know we can do that, don't you?"

"Of course, the old team back together," Rose whispered as she sniffed back the rest of her tears. "I think I have a solution to the first task…we just have to wait until the guard has let his guard down. We should be completely silent from now on though."

Nodding that he trusted her plan, the Doctor pulled Rose back against his chest, resting his chin on the tip of her head. Waiting what he calculated to be exactly four hours and fifty six minutes, the Doctor heard the breathing of the guard deepen in a telltale sign that he had fallen asleep. Nudging Rose, the Doctor mouthed that it was time.

At the warning, Rose let out a bloodcurdling scream that even made the Doctor's hearts stop for a moment that something was actually wrong with her. However, when she winked at him and kept on screaming as she rushed up and banged on the door, the Doctor was sure she knew what she was doing.

"What is wrong with you?" the guard growled from being woken up from his nap as he flung open the door.

The moment the door opened Rose flew at the guard, her arms wrapping around him in a tight hug that almost made him slip on his hooves as she breathlessly explained. "That…that _monster_," Rose explained as she pointed towards the Doctor who, understanding where Rose was going with this, let out a wicked chuckle and slowly walked towards them. "He is trying to hurt me and my baby."

"I thought you were with him?" the guard asked as he warily eyes the manic eyes Doctor. However, he didn't push Rose off of him.

"No, he was threatening us," Rose whimpered as she let out a squeak when the Doctor moved closer. "He kidnapped us and trapped us in a blue box for _months!_ He has this power…he hypnotizes me to obey his wishes when he touches me, but it only works in the prison where he keeps me! It finally wore off and now I can tell you the truth! Oh, please help me!"

Apparently the guard believed Rose because he harshly shoved the pinstriped man farther into the cell and slammed the door yet again in his face. "How can I help you? You have such odd colored hair… Are you foreigners?"

"Oh, thank you!" Rose exclaimed, tightly hugging the guard as she thought of her surroundings. "Yes, I am not from around here. I just need someone to protect me here? Can you be that hero?"

"For a lady as sweet as you?" the guard asked as Rose pulled out of the hug with a sweet smile plastered onto her face. "Of course, it is my duty to help."

"Good," Rose said, putting her arms back around the guard's neck as she met his eye with a question.

"I can help you in more ways than one," the guard explained with what Rose assumed was supposed to be a seductive look.

Taking that as all the invitation she needed, Rose smashed her lips against the guard, wincing a bit at how his beard scratched her face. The guard seemed rather pleased with himself and deepened the kiss as Rose's hands wandered down his back.

"Huh?" the guard asked in confusion when Rose pulled away from the kiss and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. It took one more second for him to glance down and notice that a pair of handcuffs was on his wrist and attached to a large desk that he couldn't possibly move on his own.

Rose only continued to work, spinning the Doctor's sonic screwdriver in her hand as she winked at him and reached for his tie. The guard still didn't seem that nervous until Rose had removed his tie. "Now…" she ordered, holding the sonic screwdriver right up against his temple. "Tell me where they took my baby."

"They took her to the breeding center a few blocks away," the guard explained in defeat as Rose finished tying the gag around his mouth.

"Thank you," Rose said as she turned and easily yanked open the cell door, still pointing the sonic at the guard.

"Did you really have to snog him?" the Doctor complained first off the moment Rose opened the door to let him out, full on glaring at the tied up guard.

Rose let out a huff and handed the Doctor back his sonic, gesturing that they really should start the running thing now. "It worked, didn't it?" Rose asked, rolling her eyes at the Doctor's aghast expression. "When we make it safely back to the TARDIS I can do a repeat with you."

"When did you take my sonic?" the Doctor breathlessly asked as he grabbed Rose's hand and began running the direction the guard had pointed towards. "And I will take that as a promise."

"I took it out of your pocket in the cell…." Rose explained as if it was the easiest thing ever. "Umm…we should pretend that the sonic can destroy the whole planet with one click so they give us Clara back."

"I don't think that will be necessary," the Doctor said as he immediately stopped and spun Rose around to face a typical looking building. "Clara is in there with that woman right now…they want our help with the maxin," he explained. "They had a prophecy that two travelers with a child will manage to break out of their jail and end the violence with the maxin."

However, Rose ignored the rest of the Doctor's statement as she yanked open the door and ran up the narrow staircase towards the room where she was sure Clara was. As soon as she flung the door open the woman who had taken Clara walked up to Rose and willingly handed her the little girl with a sigh of relief. "Oh, I knew it would come!" she proclaimed, glancing around at the leader next to her. "The prophecy is going to happen right now just as it was foretold."

Rose still glared at the Lilayanians as she pulled Clara close to her chest and began covering her with kisses and assuring her that it was going to be okay now. Still, the Doctor was warily eying the group of people in front of them. "So, you want us to help with the maxin?"

"Oh, yes!" the leader announced as he stepped with a smile on his face. "I am Sauten and this is Kausit."

"You know, I really don't care what your names are," Rose said, still full on flaring at the two individuals as she glanced down at Clara. "You took my baby from me. What if you had done something to hurt her? Didn't you think you could have warned me?"

"I truly am sorry," Kausit explained with a soft smile at Rose. "I have yet to be blessed with another child and it was rather a joy to spend time with your beautiful daughter. Hopefully, after the maxin are dealt with I can have a baby again. You see, my daughter was killed in a maxin stampede two years ago."

Rose's face immediately fell at Kausit's words, her gaze dropping. "I didn't know…" Rose murmured, extremely thankful that her child was safe and sound. "I am so sorry for snapping at you earlier. Now, tell us, how can we help?"

The Doctor sent a proud look at Rose before he spoke up again. "First of all, can you take us to the center of the city and explain when everything changed with the maxin? They used to be peaceful, yeah?"

"Indeed," Sauten said as he led them out of the building and out into the streets towards the tallest building in the city. "It was two generations ago when it all changed. You see, we were progressing with technology and everything was perfect for a number of years. And then, one day everything changed. First off, the stable was overrun by mad maxin who mauled practically everyone they encountered. The rest of the maxin were in the wild and we thought something had just happened in the stables. However, for the next few years the wild maxin began attacking anyone who got too close to them and we realized they were our enemies now. There are no ways to defeat the maxin without an even bigger retaliation back at us so we are at a standstill. Trying to avoid being noticed to avoid our doom from the once peaceful creatures."

"That's terrible," Rose gasped as the Doctor pushed forwards into the main building, going automatically to the giant controls for the technology throughout the city.

"Hmm…" the Doctor murmured, scanning both the air and the controls with his sonic. "Tell me, when did you begin the radio wave to connect the people in relation to the maxin attacks?"

"A few days before I would assume," Sauten explained with a thoughtful expression. "I cannot be exactly sure, but that was one of our first advancements and it has worked flawlessly ever since."

"Why would you ask?" Kausit asked. "Is that related to the maxin?"

Beaming at the answer, the Doctor turned towards Kausit. "You, Kausit, are brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Mind you, it really isn't a good idea to be taking children from their parents, but pushing that aside…I'm impressed you caught on."

"So the radio waves are affecting the maxin and causing them to attack the Lilayanians?" Rose asked as she stepped up next to the Doctor and tried to make sense of the levers.

"Precisely!" the Doctor announced with a waving of his sonic. "So…I have your permission, right, Sauten?"

"Permission?" Sauten asked as he tried to make sense of what had just been discovered. "What would you need permission from?"

"To disable the radio network," the Doctor explained with a sigh. "You see, the waves are physically hurting the maxin and causing them to last out at your people. After this the maxin should return to how they were before and be perfectly safe to approach. But you can never have this sort of network without this occurring again."

"Of course," Sauten said as he glanced around the room at the few people milling about. "It is for the good of the planet I cannot say no. I assume you have the means to stop the signal?"

The Doctor nodded, turning back to the controls for a few moments as he did some alien maneuver with his sonic screwdriver and flipping a few switches. "There! It's done! All fixed. Kaput, no more maxin attacks!"

"So…it is safe now?" Rose warily asked. "Like the maxin won't attack us when we are leaving?"

"Definitely, the moment the signal stops the effect will immediately stop for the creatures," the Doctor explained as he turned towards Kausit and Sauten. "Now that is done…can we leave in peace?"

"Wait, we don't even know your names!" Sauten called out as the Doctor made a motion like he was about to leave. "You saved us, at least let us thank you."

"I'm sorry, but just keep us as the helpful travelers for right now," the Doctor said as he sent a wink at Kausit as they left the shocked Lilayanians in their wake.

It didn't seem quite as long getting back to the TARDIS. They didn't encounter any maxin either, much to Rose's happiness. The last thing she wanted was to have a rogue unicorn maul her daughter, after all, they had already been thrown in jail and she was more than ready to call it a day. Plus, Clara had fallen asleep as the Doctor carried her back to the blue box.

However, the little girl seemed to have strange senses and woke up when the TARDIS came into view. Before they entered the ship, Clara began to fuss, wanting to be let down into the orange grass once more. Of course she got her way and they all ended up sitting in the grass right in front of the TARDIS as the Doctor attempted to get Clara to take her first step.

"Come on, come to daddy," the Doctor said as he held his hands out for Clara. "Let's prove mummy wrong."

Apparently Clara wanted to prove Rose wrong because she slowly pulled herself up into standing position with a determined look on her face. Gripping tightly onto Rose's hand, Clara lifted her foot like she was going to take a step, only to fall back down onto her backside with a humph.

"You can still stand," Rose crooned as she kissed Clara on the cheek. "Walking is fun, but it is much easier to have people carrying you all the time," Rose explained as she poked Clara in the stomach to make her giggle.

"It's okay, darling," the Doctor murmured as he scooted over and pulled Clara onto his lap, offering her another piece of grass. "You'll grow up too fast for me anyway…"

**Review to motivate me to update again...**

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**All in all, I sure do hope that you loved this chapter! Any guesses about what will happen in this story? Thanks so much and don't forget to review and I will love you forever!**

**Gabrielle**


	13. First Birthday

**SORRY! I know I suck and never update...and I am so, so sorry! I am at college now...let us just say I am rather "busy"...**

**Anyway, here it is...sorry if it sucks or is short!**

**Just forgive me and REVIEW**

First Birthday

Clara was eleven months old when she said, much to Rose's delight, her first word of "mama". After that the Doctor had spent a solid two weeks trying to coax a "dada" out of Clara. Thankfully, she did finally say it early one morning that resulted in a trip to ancient Egypt and a nice pep talk with Tutankhamun that he would make a fantastic King and live on for ages. The next day Clara added "no" and "uh-oh" to her vocabulary. Since then, she had also began to say, "run", "bye-bye", and even "TARDIS" on one surprising occasion.

Not only had Clara began to talk, but she also took her first steps two months before her first birthday. The Doctor was much more amused about that fact than Rose was now that they had to be chasing around after her, especially after Clara managed to fall in the console room and bang her head on the controls. Since Clara didn't seem all that upset about it at first, the Doctor actually let out a chuckle when Clara just pushed herself back up and grabbed ahold of his leg, only to start crying and asking to be picked up seconds later, which caused the Doctor to laugh again. That had been a big mistake that had caused Rose to not allow the TARDIS to fly anywhere until he learned to be more careful around _her_ baby.

Still, it really did seem like no time had passed at all when the day finally arrived that Clara turned one year old. Since they had only seen the people they left on Earth a few times in passing, Rose had planned a party for Clara with all their friends on Earth.

"Look who is finally up," the Doctor said as he walked out of the bathroom freshly showered to see Rose slowly waking up. "The birthday girl got up about an hour ago. Started crying because she knocked her little Slitheen out of her crib. Actually, I'm surprised that didn't wake you up."

"Huh?" Rose mumbled as she sat up in bed and glanced around. "Where is she?"

"She's in her room playing," the Doctor explained. "The TARDIS will let me know if she needs us. She seemed rather excitable this morning as well. Not sure if that is a good thing or not…"

"Excitable, _how?" _Rose asked as the Doctor came and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Also, nice tie that I bought for you the other day," Rose exclaimed as she nudged the Doctor in the chest.

The Doctor sighed and playfully swatted Rose's hand away. "You know, wanting to be picked up and then down within the minute. And then she expected me to take down the bars in her crib so that she could sleep with mummy and daddy instead of her own room," the Doctor continued. "I told you it wasn't a smart idea when you let Clara sleep in our bed the other night because now she wants to all the time."

"She can sleep with us tonight, it is her birthday after all. Oh, and don't give me that look," Rose exclaimed as she took in the Doctor's expression. "I can spoil her as much as I want to, it isn't doing any harm. And did she actually say anything out loud?" Rose asked, always warning that Clara wouldn't ever feel the need to talk all the time when her father could perfectly understand whatever she said and usually do what she asked for. Frowning slightly when the Doctor said that Clara didn't say anything besides dada, up, and down in English. So she decided to change the topic and not tell the Doctor he was spoiling Clara too by not making her use actual words to talk. "Why don't you go get Clara dressed and feed her some breakfast while I get ready, okay?"

"How?" the Doctor asked as he bent down as his lips lightly ghosted down Rose's neck.

"How what?" Rose mumbled as she repositioned herself to properly kiss the Time Lord. After several minutes, she pulled away, resting her forehead against his. "What were you asking?"

"How did you manage to make me so _domestic_, love?" the Doctor continued as he planted a kiss on Rose's forehead. "I mean, one minute I am wearing leather and coming into your flat thinking there are no repercussions from fighting over a plastic arm…look at us now. Besides the running about with the TARDIS, and even then we don't go to dangerous planets, we are like any other typical little family."

Rose laughed a bit, surprised by how true the Doctor's statement was. "We still manage to get into trouble, though," Rose said, pushing up out of bed as she made her way towards the bathroom. "Also, can you please go check on the daughter that you love so much?"

Apparently that was all the motivation that the Doctor needed because his smile grew by tenfold the moment Rose said the word "daughter" and did just as Rose had suggested with no complaints.

…

It didn't take all that long, well, except for coddling over the birthday girl, until the TARDIS landed at Torchwood in Cardiff where they were all going to meet. Walking out of the police box, the face of the grinning American was the first thing they saw.

"Clara!" Jack announced as he caught sight of the little girl hugging the Doctor's legs as she attempted to hide. Of course Jack didn't care that Clara had only seen him one time before and scooped her up into his arms. "Missed your Uncle Jack, haven't you?"

"No," Clara interjected, but seemed to relax into Jack's presence despite what she had said.

"You got a stubborn little one, Doc," Jack said as Clara glanced around at all the people gathered around as she sucked on her thumb.

Ianto stepped forwards and extended his hand to Rose. "Nice to officially meet you, Rose Tyler," he said before turning to the Doctor. "Doctor, would you mind if Gwen and I," he said, motioning to the Welsh dark-haired woman next to him. "Go have a look inside of the TARDIS…we have heard so much about it."

"Sure, just don't go wandering about and getting lost," the Doctor responded as they brushed past him, talking rather excitedly, into the blue box.

Rose glanced around a bit, confused by how different Torchwood was than she had imagined it. It didn't actually seem as _alien _as she had expected. "Where is everyone?" Rose asked as she sat down at the only clear table in the room. "And there aren't any aliens, besides the Doctor, housed right around here, are they?"

"Oh, speaking of which," the Doctor interjected to the cheery American. "Can I go look around to see if there is anything I can help with? You know, see if any of the alien guns are actually musical instruments," he finished with a wink in Rose's direction in remembrance of the first time she had encountered a Dalek.

"Don't accidently find an alien invasion, okay?" Rose joked only halfway serious. "I really don't want to do the running for our lives thing on Clara's birthday," Rose continued, pausing slightly when she saw Sarah Jane enter the room from another corridor. "Nope, no baby with you," Rose announced when Jack made to move behind the Doctor.

The Doctor made a scandalized expression as Jack set Clara down on her feet. "Rose, she has to get used to encountering aliens, she will be for the rest of time. They are in cages anyway, they can't actually hurt her."

"She'll be fine," Sarah Jane countered as she sat down next to Rose with a smile. "After all, that mad alien managed to keep you safe all that time."

"At least carry her," Rose responded as Clara, now free to explore an unfamiliar area, began wandering away on unsteady legs before the Doctor scooped her up again. Once they were out of sight, Rose turned to Sarah again. "Sorry, how are you? Thank you so much for coming, by the way."

"I'm just glad I got to see the baby again before she is grown," Sarah Jane laughed in a carefree manner.

"Oh, don't remind me!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes widening a bit at her words. "I don't want to think about her ever growing up. Why can't she stay a baby forever? You know…pause time," she stopped, glancing at the ground as she tried to think of what to say next.

Sarah Jane, understanding exactly what Rose was talking about, sent the blonde a reassuring smile. She had wished she could not only spend her entire life with the Doctor, but the rest of his, traveling with him. "You don't want to miss everything else as Clara grows up, Rose," she murmured. "It'll all be worth it. And…the Doctor won't regret it either. Rose, you are giving him a chance to have a family again after everything that happened. And trust me, what you have together is so much more than he had on Gallifrey," Sarah Jane explained with a sigh. "He doesn't have to send his daughter to the Academy. Just this once, he gets to raise Clara hands on. It won't last forever, but that makes it so much more precious."

"Thank you," Rose whispered, burying her face in her hands as she thought about what Sarah Jane had told her. She knew it was true and had no idea how the older woman always knew what to say. Looking up with a smile on her face, Rose brought up lighter topics with Sarah.

It wasn't long after that when Martha and Mickey appeared at the front door, holding hands as they greeted Rose.

"I knew it! You two are together," Rose squealed as she threw her arms around Mickey for a tight hug. "I told you to go after her."

"That was _you?"_ Martha asked, a bit surprised when Rose hugged her as well. "He always said that a friend gave him the push he needed…though, I am quite glad it was you, Rose."

Rose glanced at Martha, glad that she was with Mickey now. The Doctor had told her that Martha had fancied him practically the whole time they had been traveling together and it was a relief to see just how over the Doctor she was. That way there would be no need for awkwardness between them at all.

"Where is everyone?" Mickey exclaimed as he noticed that Sarah Jane were the only people there with the exception of the blue box.

"Exploring the TARDIS or Torchwood…" Rose explained with a sigh, deciding to invite them into the TARDIS for tea. Torchwood seemed a little bit ill-stocked for Rose's tastes.

Once comfortable and inside, Mickey sat down next to Rose as Sarah Jane discussed a case she was investigating with Martha. "I saw Shareen last week, Rose."

"Really?" Rose asked, wincing when she realized how little she thought of her friend. "What did she say? She thinks I'm dead, doesn't she?"

"Yeah…I am going to see her tomorrow as well," Mickey said as he glanced around the kitchen he was once used to. "I can't tell her you are alive, can I? I mean, she was talking about how every once in a while she thinks of how close the two of you used to be."

"You can't," Rose murmured, glancing down at her tea. "I wish I could, but it isn't the same anymore. Mum is gone with Pete now and I'm in the TARDIS…I can't very well just pop by to say hi every now and then."

Thankfully, Rose was saved from Mickey's disapproving look and response when the Doctor and Jack walked into the room. At least Martha seemed excited about the prospect of seeing Jack again.

"Where's Clara?" Rose asked as she stood up.

"Oh, she was right behind me," the Doctor muttered to himself, spinning around to see that the little girl was, in fact, nowhere to be seen. Averting his eyes from Rose's harsh look, the Doctor backed out of the room. "Be back in a moment…" he explained, only to be heard calling out Clara's name only seconds later.

"I hope he doesn't usually lose her like that," Martha commented as she sat back down next to Jack. "Breaking his number one rule, don't wander off."

"If we didn't wander off nothing would get figured out," Rose countered with a smirk. "He isn't good on his own anyway."

Martha let out a laugh at that, sharing a glance with Jack as she did so. "I still can't picture it all though. The Doctor with a daughter…well, besides Jenny that is."

"Jenny?" Rose wondered out loud, surprised when Mickey cleared his throat and gave Martha a pointed look that she shouldn't have said that. She glanced over at Jack, relieved to see that the American didn't know what they were talking about either. "I've never heard of a Jenny before…"

Thankfully, Ianto and Gwen stumbled into the kitchen right then, appearing quite confused as how they arrived there. It didn't take long before both of the members of the Torchwood team were asking questions about how the TARDIS worked with the twisting and limitless corridors that only the Doctor could answer. Still, from the subtle glances Martha was sending her, she knew something about Jenny was important. Waiting for the Doctor to return, Rose began to chat with Sarah Jane again.

"Look who I found," the Doctor cheerfully announced as he walked in carrying a slightly rumpled Clara.

"Aww, she is even cuter than Mickey described," Martha crooned as she bent down to where the little girl was standing in the corner. She glanced a bit nervously at Rose before she sat down on the ground, trying to remember what sort of games one year old babies could play. "What did you get for your birthday, love?"

The Doctor paused, searching in his pockets for something. "She got this when she woke up this morning, loves it already," the Doctor stated, pulling out an exact copy of his own sonic screwdriver except for the fact that it was pink. Grinning as Clara reached up for it, the Doctor handed it to the girl who started pressing buttons automatically. "All it does is make the same noises and lights up like mine…there was a little bit of an _incident _with my sonic and Clara," he paused, sharing a sheepish look with Rose. "Plus, it always seemed to be in her mouth."

"I wouldn't have minded one of those, Boss," Mickey spoke up as he shared a look with Rose. "Come on, it would be better than being a Tin Dog."

"Really?" the Doctor laughed, sitting down next to Rose and flinging an arm around her shoulders. "You would rather sit there with a toy instead of save the day with a van?"

"Oh, don't start that again," Rose announced as she poked the Doctor in the side, motioning that he should probably start answering the questions that Ianto and Gwen had asked.

It didn't take long at all until Jack smirked and pulled out hyper vodka, proclaiming that it was time to get this party started. Rose was annoyed for a second, warning the Captain that if anything happened that would scar Clara for the rest of her life he would never hear the end of it. With a smirk, Jack had promised that he would be able to control himself for once.

"When are you going to make Rose an honest woman, Doc?" Jack asked as he offered the Doctor some hyper vodka and sat down in the chair next to him, deciding it wouldn't be a good idea to bring up the idea of a threesome again.

The Doctor glanced over to see Rose chatting with Martha and Mickey through the doorway before he turned back to look at Jack. "Huh?"

"You know," Ianto drunkenly slurred as he sat down next to Jack. "Give her a ring or whatever the Time Lords do."

"It is all very formal on Gallifrey," the Doctor explained, wondering where Clara had wandered off to. Probably just playing all the new toys she had received for her birthday. "Not that it matters anyway, they are gone now," he paused, hoping Rose wasn't in hearing distance. "Rose and I have never really gotten around to discussing it. I mean…we already have a child together and are about as committed as you can get."

"Come on," Jack announced, sitting straight up in his chair as he pulled out another flask from his pocket. "Rose cares. She liked being married to John. You know, enjoyed being able to introduce him as her husband."

Furrowing his eyebrows, the Doctor shot Ianto a pleading look that he ignored. "John and I aren't the same and Rose understands that," the Doctor explained in a tense voice. "I just don't want to dwell on that with her anymore. We are finally passed that and I don't want to…hurt her again."

"Whatever, I still think that Rose would want to make it official for her culture in a white," Jack paused, snickering a bit. "Never mind, obviously that ship sailed a _long _time ago, but you know what I mean about the typical Earth ceremony. You don't want Rose to be your wife?"

"The Time Lords did a telepathic bond along with the ceremony," the Doctor said, holding back the urge to roll his eyes at how abrupt Jack was. "I'm not even sure if Rose's mind would be capable of it."

"Well, if it is don't waste any time until you do it, Doc," Jack murmured, finally acting completely serious even after drinking more hyper vodka than anyone else. "I know how it feels to have to watch people you love die and I don't want you to have any regrets with Rose or Clara."

"Speaking of Clara," the Doctor interrupted, getting out of the chair with his body tense. "I am going to go see what she is up to."

**SO! After this...would you rather I go about with the storyline I have in my head that I haven't written yet (will take some time)...or just wrap it up rather hastily?**

**Thanks and I love you all...**

**Gabrielle**


	14. Controlling Time

**HI! I love you all and don't hate me!**

**I will eventually add a story I have planned for the time between this chapter and the previous, but in due time. I already had this one written, so why not post it, right?! ;) **

**ENJOY! and review**

Controlling Time

Clara was seven the first time it happened. While in the TARDIS's limitless wardrobe for a new little dress to put Clara in when Rose stumbled upon a large section of baby boy clothes. Why the Doctor would have such clothes baffled Rose, but she couldn't pull herself away either. So she just sat there in the pile of clothes as she organized them into sections, paying particular attention to the little three-piece suits.

"Rose, what are you doing in here?" the Doctor called out with Clara in tow. His plan was to go take them to see real live dinosaurs on Earth because ever since Clara had seen _Jurassic Park_ it had all been about dinosaurs. Now that she knew almost all of the species of dinosaurs and random facts about them, she wanted to go see them herself.

"Nothing," Rose sniffed when she saw them walk into the room. She tried to hide the clothes she had been looking at behind her, but she knew the Doctor had seen it. "Do you like this dress, Clara? I think you should wear it today… Actually, I am not feeling too well. Why don't you and daddy just go see the dinosaurs without me today?"

The Doctor stepped forwards and picked up the dress and handed it to Clara. "Go and get changed into this, Clara. You can go wait in the control room, okay? I have to talk to mummy first because we want her to go with us, don't we?"

"I don't want to wait there," Clara complained as she tucked the dress under her arm. "And I want mummy to come do my hair all pretty again."

"I will later, sweetheart," Rose explained to her daughter with a sigh. "Tell you what, why don't you go play in the indoor playground, okay?" Rose asked, extremely thankful that the TARDIS had constructed an amazing play area for Clara so that she could occupy herself at times.

"Okay," Clara said, running out of the room, promptly dropping the dress Rose had picked out on the floor on her way out.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked as he kneeled down next to Rose and saw what she had been looking at. "Why are you so blue all the sudden? I thought you were excited for today with Clara?"

Rose sighed, scooting further away from her husband and hugging her knees against her chest. "I just don't feel up to it, Doctor."

"Come on, love, you can tell me," the Doctor murmured as he attempted to reach out to hold Rose's hand. "What's wrong? You don't usually act like this."

"I know it is stupid…I am only twenty nine years old and I feel like I am about to die," Rose admitted as she buried her face into her knees. "Why can't we just freeze times exactly how it is right now?"

The Doctor sucked in air slowly before he responded again. "Don't you _dare_ say that, Rose. There is so much time left for us. We aren't even near done raising Clara yet…why are you so upset about this _now_?"

"I don't want you to be alone, Doctor," Rose mumbled as she averted her eyes. "And both Clara and I will leave you someday. And you know I wish it didn't have to be like this, but we can't change it…"

"Rose, it is a fact that has surrounded me for centuries," the Doctor explained with a sigh, sitting down next to Rose. "But it doesn't mean I regret it. I love you," he continued, wincing when he realized he hardly ever said those words to her. "And I love Clara. I will still have the memories you've given me. No sense worrying about it now."

"I want to give you another child," Rose whispered, her hand barely brushing his as she spoke.

Pausing for a moment, the Doctor took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and tried to figure out how to respond. "I suppose…if you really wanted to…I could use the chameleon arch to become human again… Mind you, John Smith wouldn't know what has happened since then besides flashes. But I wouldn't want to leave you for a long time. So I would probably have to figure out the best time for…conception and change then. It may take a few tries, but you weren't even trying last time and it just sort of happened, so maybe we could get lucky again," the Doctor rambled, stopping when he noticed the shocked look Rose wore. "Or…umm…if it would be too painful to have John back we could always…I don't know…adopt or something. That might be hard, we don't have a house or anything and technically Rose Tyler is dead on Earth. But with a little help from my psychic paper it might work," he paused when he heard Rose clear her throat. "What?"

"That isn't what I meant," Rose explained resting her forehead on his shoulder. "I wouldn't change a thing with Clara because she is just…perfect, but I don't want to have another child with John, Doctor."

"Oh, so you want to try to adopt?" the Doctor asked, running a hand through his hair as he thought. "Do you mean like…soon? Did Clara say something about how she wanted a sibling? Because I've talked to her about it and I think she likes getting all the attention."

"No, I don't want to bring a child onto the TARDIS that is meant to have a normal life on Earth, Doctor," Rose murmured, trying to understand why the Doctor was being so oblivious to this. "I want to have _your _child."

The Doctor immediately interrupted, shifting Rose so that he could see her face. "We _can't_."

"I just don't want you to be alone, Doctor."

"We have Clara," the Doctor exclaimed. "Clara is my daughter, Rose. You've already done everything for me."

Rose shook her head, worrying her bottom lip at the Doctor's reaction. "I know. And I'm not saying that Clara isn't your daughter, we got over that years ago. I want to give you a child that will be a Time Lord, or half of one. I want you to have our child that won't leave you one day, to not be alone. Just picture it," Rose whispered, just wishing the Doctor would listen. "A little boy that looks just like you…we could dress him in a tiny suit and Clara would have a baby brother. Except he would have two hearts like his father."

The Doctor sighed, the sound stretching out an infinity for Rose. "I wish we could, Rose. But you know that we can't… If it were possible I would without a second thought. You know that, don't you?"

"But how do you know it isn't possible?" Rose asked, peeking up at the Doctor through her damp eyelashes. "We've done the impossible before. I mean, we could at least _try…_couldn't we?"

"I think we would know if it were possible by now," the Doctor explained, leaning in and kissing Rose's forehead. "I mean, it isn't like we've ever been…careful about anything like that and nothing has ever happened. How could we even _try_, Rose?"

"We could run tests," Rose offered, trying to keep her voice even and calm. "There has to be some alien pill or something that can help. We are physically compatible, why can't we create a baby?"

Tensing his jaw, the Doctor spoke up. "I _have_," he muttered. "I ran every possible test, Rose and we can't… I have a triple helix DNA and it isn't compatible with your double helix. If they were combined the genes would become a mess. Even if we were, by chance, to get pregnant, you would miscarry early on. Or, if the baby was carried full term, it would only live a few months at best. I can't do that to you, Rose."

"See, there is hope," Rose exclaimed, holding back the urge to cling to the Doctor. "When did you do the tests?"

"You were pregnant before," the Doctor whispered in a detached voice. He didn't dare look down at Rose as he continued to talk. "For over a month…not long after Clara's first birthday. I was…weeeeell, I was overjoyed at first. I ran every possible test without you noticing, love. And that's all I am going to say about that," the Doctor paused, closing his eyes for a moment. "After that I made sure it wouldn't happen again."

Rose sat completely still, wishing she wasn't hearing this. "I lost the baby?" Rose asked, wincing as she looked down at her flat stomach. "How did you know? And what do you mean that it won't happen again?"

"I'm so sorry, Rose," the Doctor explained, resting his head against his palm. "And I can tell with your hormones if you were pregnant…would be rather obvious to me, really," the Doctor stopped, struggling to think of what to say next before he spoke again. "I…I give you a shot that prevents you from getting pregnant. It has to be done, Rose. Please, don't get mad at me for that."

"You could have asked me about it…" Rose whispered, surprised when she leaned against her husband. "But, Doctor, you said there is a chance. A possibility we could have a child?"

"Anything is technically _possible_," the Doctor warily explained. "We _can't_, Rose. Please don't."

"Please?" Rose asked, her voice finally breaking as tears left her eyes. "Please, Doctor? I love you so much and I trust you more than anyone, why can't you trust me about this? Just…just let us try. We don't have to use anything weird yet, just try naturally without the birth control shot. Please? It could happen on its own, how is that anything to fear?"

The Doctor wrapped his arms around Rose, burying his head into her hair. "It'll take two months before the shot wears off," the Doctor said in a tight voice. "If this…if something goes wrong I don't know if I can ever forgive myself."

Looking up at him with tear stained eyes, Rose worried her lip as she thought. "Thank you, Doctor. For not saying no."

…

It took ten miscarriages before Rose finally gave up her dream of having a half Time Lord child.

The first few times, Rose was still hopeful and told Clara she was going to be a big sister. However, after having to explain to Clara three times and see her disappointment, they decided not to bring it up to her again until they were confident the baby would survive. They never told her again.

On the last one, when Rose had miscarried when they were miles from the TARDIS when she was farther along than ever before, they had cut it close. The Doctor finally managed to get to the hospital on New Earth though. Clara stayed with Jack for a week before the cat nurses said it was safe for Rose to go home after serious complications.

The moment they got back to the TARDIS the Doctor had cried, shocking Rose into silence. He almost _never _cried and it terrified her to see him like this. She knew it hurt him, but she never expected this. When he begged her to not make them go through this again, that she was going to hurt herself and he couldn't lose her too, Rose had to say yes.

On that day, when Rose was thirty seven, they gave up trying to control time. Their time was running out, the end was getting close enough to glimpse. And it was terrifying.


End file.
